A Modern Myth
by Calai'di
Summary: ABANDONED: AU of OotP. Harry's Turned by one of Voldemort's vampires and now has an Allure that draws many parthumans, including Draco, a Veela, and a stillalive Cedric, an elf. Who will he choose to eventually become his Mate? HD, HC, DC, HDC
1. Prologue: The Ending

**AN: **So, I only have a couple things to say here. First is that the prologue really has nothing to do with the rest of the fic except to show how Cedric stayed alive. Everything else in the end of GoF stays the same, except that Cedric's still alive. The real changes start with chap one. Also, as of posting this, I haven't decided what the main pairing of this will be. It may end up being Harry/Draco/Cedric, 'cause I'm rather partial to that. It will be SLASH, so don't read if you don't like that.

And lastly, please enjoy it! I've always wanted to write a creature bonding fic, so I'm really excited to finally have an idea for one. Enjoy!

* * *

**A Modern Myth**

**Prologue: The Ending**

"Cedric!" Harry bellowed. "On your left!"

Cedric looked around, but Harry hadn't been fast enough in his warning: the older boy ran headlong into one of the legs of a gigantic spider and fell back onto the ground. Harry watched in horror as the spider bore down upon Cedric and lifted him up in its front legs. Cedric struggled and flung numerous spells at it, but he might as well have not been doing anything at all.

"_Stupefy_!" Harry yelled, trying to help, but it did about as much good as Cedric's spells. Cedric suddenly cried out in anguish; he was only kicking at the spider with one leg now; the other must have been hurt so badly he couldn't move it. Feeling desperate, Harry shouted, "_Expelliarmus!_"

The Disarming Spell did the trick–the spider dropped Cedric, but it was a twelve foot drop and the Hufflepuff landed on his already injured leg, which crumpled beneath him. Harry didn't pause to think; he aimed his wand again and shouted, "_Stupefy_!" just as Cedric did the same. He breathed a sigh of relief when the spider keeled over sideways, its legs falling everywhere, its body flattening a nearby hedge.

"Cedric!" Harry called, running forward. "Are you all right? What did it do to you?"

"Not sure," Cedric answered with a nervous laugh. He tried to stand, but his leg shook uncontrollably as soon as he tried to put weight on it. As Harry drew closer, he saw that Cedric's leg was covered in some gluey secretion, probably from the spider's pincers, and was bleeding freely.

Harry wrapped his arm around the older boy's waist to help him stand and looked around. They were standing metres from the gleaming Triwizard Cup, an easy distance for Harry to cross, but Cedric would probably be unable to make it.

"Well, looks like this is it, then," Cedric panted; his eyes had followed the same path as Harry's.

"Yeah," Harry murmured. It would be so easy to leave Cedric where he was and take the Cup for himself. Too easy.

He heard Cedric sigh longingly. "I had dreams, you know? Of walking out of the maze with that in my hands and the crowd cheering for me..."

"You could still have that," Harry answered, though he'd remembered his own dreams of Cho beaming at him as he lifted the Cup above his head in triumph.

Cedric let out a short laugh. "Yeah, right. I can't even stand on my own."

"I'd help you," Harry said, fighting back the impulse to do just the opposite. Cedric let out the longing sigh again.

"You take it."

Harry looked up at him sharply; he wasn't serious?

"You've helped me out a lot in this tournament," Cedric went on, as though that explained everything. "I never would have gotten this far without you."

Harry frowned slightly and looked back at the Cup. "I had a lot of help, too..."

"And you saved my life earlier," Cedric added. Harry shook his head.

"You would have got to it first if that spider hadn't got in the way." He took in a deep breath and said firmly, "You should take it."

Cedric laughed again and glanced down at his injured leg. "And you'd help me over there, would you?"

"Yes," Harry answered resolutely. He'd made his decision and he already felt disappointed enough; he wouldn't let Cedric ruin it for him.

Cedric looked down at him for a long while, his expression unfathomable. Then he suddenly nodded and smiled. "Both of us."

"What?"

"We'll take it at the same time. We'll tie for it, and share the winnings. It's still a Hogwarts victory."

Harry stared up at him. "Are you sure?"

"Positive. We've helped each other out, and we both got here. It wouldn't be right if we didn't tie. Besides," Cedric added with a cheeky grin, "I think we're both too stubborn to do anything else."

Harry glanced between Cedric, the cup, and back again and grinned up at the Hufflepuff. "Deal. Come on, I'll help you over."

Harry tightened his grip on Cedric's waist and helped him limp over to the plinth where the cup stood. When they reached it, they both held a hand out over one of the cup's gleaming handles.

"On three, right?" said Harry and Cedric nodded. "One––two––three––"

Harry grasped a handle. Cedric pulled out of Harry's grip and did not.

Harry looked over at Cedric in confusion and horror as he felt a jerk somewhere behind his navel. The older boy realized a second too late what had happened; Harry's feet had already left the ground and he was pulled away in a howl of wind and swirling colour, completely alone.


	2. Ch 1: New Moon

**A Modern Myth**

**Chapter I: New Moon**

As the hottest day of the summer drew to a close, the houses along Privet Drive seemed surprisingly cold and uninviting, with all the shades drawn to keep out the sun. Lawns sat dying and empty, void of any life as the heat had chased all life back inside. Almost all life, at any rate, though the residents of the neighbourhood would hardly count the sole figure shuffling down the street a member of their lives. Normalcy forbid that they give any attention to the completely abnormal Harry Potter.

Though it was only a few days away from his fifteenth birthday, Harry was already dreading what might happen. At best, he might get a couple cards from his friends telling him not to worry and that he'd be able to leave Privet Drive soon. At worst, he'd get nothing and Voldemort would choose that day to attack for the first time since June. Harry wasn't sure which he would prefer; either way, his birthday was sure to be a day not worth remembering.

He sighed as he crossed Magnolia Crescent, turned down Magnolia Road, and headed toward the play park. In the past month, Ron and Hermione had been disappointing, frustrating friends. In all of their letters, they promised that soon someone would come to get him from Privet Drive, yet he was still here. They even seemed to be together in the same place, which annoyed him to no end. At least Sirius's letters were a little more satisfying; he appeared to be trapped in one place as well and sympathized with him, but that still wasn't much of a comfort.

However, he'd found an unexpectedly good friend in Cedric Diggory. Ever since the end of June, they'd written back and forth to each other an found they had quite a lot in common, including Quidditch, a passionate hatred of Snape, and an interest in Cho Chang. Harry had found himself writing more and more in each letter, even going so far as to include his frequent dreams of walking down a mysterious corridor. Sometimes he wondered if maybe Cedric had become a better friend than Ron ever had been. It certainly seemed like it recently.

Harry jumped the park gate with ease and headed off across the yellowing grass toward the swings. With another sigh, he sank into the only one Dudley and his friends hadn't yet broken and wrapped his arms around the chain, eyes gazing glumly at the ground. It just wasn't fair. Why should he be stuck here in Little Winging while Ron and Hermione had gotten together already and were probably having a grand old time without him? How could Dumbledore have forgotten about him so easily? Dumbledore wouldn't even know Voldemort was back if it hadn't been for him! And yet he was the one stuck in a Muggle neighbourhood, having to scrounge the dustbins for papers to see if anything had happened yet.

Harry suddenly tensed as he heard...something, he couldn't be sure what it might have been. It had almost sounded like the swish of a cloak, but why would anyone wearing a cloak be here in Little Winging. Besides, he would have heard the crack of an Apparition if a wizard were here.

Then he stood and spun around as he heard the sound again, instinctively drawing his wand. However, as he looked around and didn't see anything in the darkness, he let his guard relax a little. A mistake, he decided a second later, when a hand covered his mouth and another grabbed his wand as it pinned his arms to his body.

Harry screamed into the hand and struggled frantically, though he might have been silent and still for all the good it did. The person restraining him was far stronger than he was and soon pulled him so close he could hardly move at all.

"I am not going to hurt you, Harry Potter," a voice murmured into his ear, male and unfamiliar, "although that is what my master wishes. Please, relax."

Harry only tried to struggle more at that, his breath quickening in panic. Anyone whose 'master' wished him harm could not be good; it would be best to get away immediately.

His fear only worsened when he felt a brush of lips on his neck. Did this mystery person mean to rape him? But didn't rapists usually lose interest in a struggling victim? This guy had only tightened his hold on him as he struggled, rather than let him go. Maybe he was just really determined?

"I pray you will not hate me for this, Harry," the man murmured, sounding sorrowful and determined at once. "I am only doing this for you."

Harry let out a silent scream as he felt a sharp pain in his neck, though a moment later even his struggles ceased completely as he entered a world of pleasure. His whole body seemed to be on fire, a fire he usually only associated with the area between his legs. He never wanted it to stop; he would happily submit to whatever this man wanted as long as he could stay like this forever.

_You will enjoy it even more if you drink,_ a voice murmured in his mind.

_Drink?_ Harry wondered hazily, and suddenly something was pressed against his lips, something wet and he immediately latched onto whatever it was. A thick liquid poured down his throat, the most wonderful drink he'd ever tasted, and he drank headily, trying to get as much as possible. And the man had been right; this was _so_ much better, like pure light flowing through his blood, touching every last cell, changing him, making him better. The light consumed him down to his very soul and all he could think of was how much he wanted this drink, and how much he never wanted the light to end.

Suddenly, the drink was pulled away as well as the rest of the pleasure and he shook with the shock of descending from such a high place so quickly. Strong hands turned him around and warm lips suddenly covered his own. He tasted the delicious liquid on those lips and forced his tongue into the other's mouth to capture every inch of that taste. Liquid flowed down his throat again, and though it was less than before, he swallowed it greedily, until the other man finally pulled away again and it was lost to him. Harry let out a soft cry at the loss and tried to move forward to find it again, but the man held him firmly in place.

"Forgive me, Harry Potter," the man whispered, so low a human would not have heard it. "Please remember, I was forced into this position."

Harry suddenly screamed as white-hot pain flooded his senses, and he collapsed unconscious into the man's arms, his body shaking uncontrollably. The man regarded him sadly, spread his wings, and flew off back toward Privet Drive with the unconscious Boy-Who-Lived in tow.

* * *

Harry gasped as he woke and immediately started coughing, though he wished he wasn't as pain racked his body with every breath. He hardly noticed the startled intake of breath from nearby or the hurried footsteps and slamming of a door. In fact, nothing distracted him from his coughing until a goblet of something was shoved under his nose.

"Drink this, Harry. It will help."

Harry took the goblet and drank without question, moaning in relief and pleasure when he immediately found he could breathe again. Once the goblet was drained of its sweet liquid, he looked around to find his saviour and wished he hadn't.

Albus Dumbledore was sitting by the bed where he lay, watching him with concerned blue eyes. Harry growled at the sight of him and looked away, as though that would make the source of his anger disappear. Of course, it couldn't be that easy.

"How are you feeling, Harry?" Dumbledore asked softly; Harry started at the tone. The old man sounded more his age than he ever had.

"Angry, confused, in a lot of pain," Harry answered bitterly. "The usual."

"Of course, that's a natural reaction," Dumbledore said with a slight nod.

"To what, being isolated for a month?"

Dumbledore sighed softly. "Harry, what is the last thing you remember?"

Harry glanced at him suspiciously, but he hurt too much to do much more than answer as calmly as possible, "I was at the play park near my aunt and uncles house, and then this creepy guy appeared and...oh god," he murmured, covering his face with a hand.

Dumbledore merely waited silently for him to continue.

"He...he said something about not wanting to hurt me and how he hoped I wouldn't hate him and then...I don't know, whatever he did felt really good." Harry was glad his face was covered to cover the brilliant blush staining his cheeks. "Then he made me drink something, but then he took it away, and then I was in a lot of pain. I must have passed out."

"I see," Dumbledore murmured, more to himself than to Harry.

Harry uncovered his eyes and looked around curiously. "Where are we, sir?"

"We are in Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, the current headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix," Dumbledore said. "Are you sure that's all you remember?"

Harry nodded once and hissed in pain. "Yes, that's it. What's the Order of the Phoenix?"

"You will find out soon enough. I thought you would be more interested in what happened to you."

"I am, but you didn't seem like you'd figured it out yet," Harry answered with a bitter smile.

Dumbledore nodded, a thoughtful frown on his face. "It is only that a wizard has not been Turned in over two hundred years."

A sinking feeling formed in the pit of Harry's stomach. "'Turned?'"

"Yes, Turned. I am afraid, Harry, that you are now a Vampire. That was the result of your encounter the other night."

Harry stared at him for a moment, desperately trying not to believe it. "I can't be a Vampire. You have to be born a Vampire; you can't be Turned."

"Yes, that is what most wizards believe. Even the Ministry is unaware of the truth." Dumbledore regarded him sadly for a moment before he went on, "However, there are certain Vampires who can Turn humans, though they are few and far between, and they tend to stay hidden from us. It appears you have been Turned by one of them."

Harry turned his gaze up at the ceiling though he hardly noticed what he was staring at. Why him? Why was he always the one that got into messes like this? And now he wouldn't be allowed back at Hogwarts, since he wasn't human anymore. He didn't even want to think about what else being a Vampire meant.

"Are you sure, sir?" Harry asked desperately, praying that somehow the Headmaster had been mistaken. "Maybe I was just...I dunno, drugged or something."

"I am afraid there is no other possibility," Dumbledore replied sadly.

"Why? Why does the stuff always happen to me?" Harry whispered, his eyes closing as he fought back angry tears. It just wasn't _fair_!

Dumbledore shook his head with a sigh. "If it would make you feel better, I can ask the Ministry to begin a hunt for the Vampire that did this to you–"

"No!" Harry suddenly exclaimed, sitting up so fast his head spin. He laid back down a moment later, frowning in confusion. For some reason, the thought of someone hurting his maker made him feel physically sick.

"No," he repeated softly. "Sir, he said he'd been forced to do this to me. He shouldn't be punished for that."

"Ah, that explains it," Dumbledore said with a nod.

"What, sir?"

"Why he Turned you. You see, the only Vampires with the power to Turn others are those directly related to the royal family of their clan. Basically, the royal family and those Turned by them. After that, the blood is too weak to Turn humans. That is one reason no one has been Turned in the last two hundred years; Vampires with the ability to Turn guard their blood carefully and only give it to those they have deemed worthy after watching them for years.

"So, something must have happened to make him Turn you when you are clearly too young and too important to the wizarding world for it."

"Well, he certainly seemed like he didn't want to do it," Harry said, anxiously trying to keep Dumbledore from hurting his maker.

"Very well, we shall allow him to live in ambiguity." Dumbledore stood and headed for the door. "Is there anything I can get you, Harry?"

"A good pain-relieving potion, please," Harry said. Then he frowned slightly and added, "Sir, why don't I feel any different? I mean, I can't hear your heartbeat or see any better than before, and I don't feel like drinking...blood..."

"It will take a few days for your body to change completely," Dumbledore answered with a sigh. "And wizards take longer than Muggles because of our magic. You've been unconscious for several days."

Harry started slightly. "What day is it?"

"It will be the thirty-first in two hours."

"Oh," Harry murmured, feeling sick again. What a wonderful birthday present: finding out he was a Vampire.

"Would you like to see Miss Granger and Mr Weasley? They've been most worried about you."

Harry shook his head immediately, hissing in pain as head started throbbing because of the movement. He didn't want to see them so soon, not when he was sure that he'd only see them during holidays from now on, and not when he felt so confused and horrified.

Dumbledore nodded in understanding. "I'll be back with your potion."

"Thank you, sir," Harry said as Dumbledore stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him.

He turned his gaze back up to the ceiling and sighed. He was sure the full impact of learning he was now a Vampire hadn't really hit him yet; it felt more like a dream right now, especially since he didn't feel like one yet. He hoped that somehow he'd never fully change, that he could stay in this state of being a Vampire and feeling like a wizard, but he knew that was unlikely. As long as it happened later rather than sooner, so he would have more time to adjust to the idea.

White-hot fire suddenly flooded his body again and he screamed, writhing in agony. Footsteps pounded outside the room and then inside as the door slammed open and several people rushed inside. He could barely hear shouting and more hurried footsteps outside his own screaming, and someone suddenly pinned him down so he couldn't move and he screamed further. His body was eating itself and drenched in flames at once and he had to move, had to fight it, and he fought desperately against his captors, but they held fast.

He choked as something was poured down his throat and tried to throw it up, instinctively knowing that whatever it had been was not the food his body needed. Then his thoughts grew hazy, and his body seemed to be floating away from him, and he drifted off into blissfully painless, dreamless sleep.

* * *

Harry's first instinct upon awakening was to scream, since that was what he'd last been doing, but he wasn't hurting anymore so he fought the reflex and stayed silent. An instant later, he noticed something was very different. The world was extremely noisy all of a sudden; he could hear the wind outside as if he were standing in it, the creak of boards and the scurry of little creatures in the walls, the voices of people in the kitchen downstairs. Not to mention a constant, uneven thumping coming from multiple sources that would likely give him a headache if it continued.

And he could smell all sorts of things too, namely something incredibly delicious that permeated the whole house and centred on the kitchen as well. And he could smell how old the house really was, and that there was an infestation of something nasty in a room downstairs, and that nearby stood someone who smelled like fresh rain but not food.

Not to mention he was starving and felt like he would die if he didn't eat right away. And confused as to why he was lying on his stomach when he was sure he'd fallen unconscious on his back. And wondering why it felt as though he suddenly had two more limbs sticking out of his back.

'Oh good, you're finally awake."

Harry's eyes flew open at the voice, a voice he remembered very well as being the source of all his problems. But as soon as he looked over, he was flooded with more changes. He could see perfectly now, even without his glasses. No, more than perfectly; everything seemed brighter and more colourful and had much more depth than ever before. He found himself growing entranced by the torch on the wall until a movement nearby caught his eye. Then he gasped as he eyes lighted on two of the most beautiful people he'd ever seen.

He noted absently that normally he wouldn't find either one attractive at all, but with his new vision they seemed like angels. The first was tall and appeared older than the other and was obviously foreign, probably Middle Eastern judging by his dark skin and black hair. He was standing closest to the bed and had probably been the one to speak, judging by the relieved expression on his face. The other looked as though he'd had all of his colour bleached from him, as his white hair and skin seemed almost translucent, but it only made him seem unearthly rather than bizarre. He seemed like he'd rather not be there and was leaning back against the farthest wall with a scowl on his lips. Both were wearing clothes, Muggle clothes in fact, that looked fifty years old or more, though they seemed brand new.

Oddest of all was that both men had huge black feathered wings, though the black-haired man's were much plainer than his companion's. The white-haired man's wings shifted between black and deep red when he moved and each feather was tipped with gold, whereas the other's wings were merely a dull black.

"Your Professor Dumbledore was very worried you would not awaken," the man nearest him said, and Harry glared slightly at him. This was the one who had Turned him, and he wasn't about to be forgiven for it.

"Who are you?" he asked shortly, trying to sound as annoyed as possible.

"My name is Sudi Kafele, and that is my brother Hamal," the man answered, hardly looking fazed by Harry's animosity. Harry eyed them incredulously.

"You're brothers?"

Sudi inclined his head with a faint smile. "Yes, though I know we do not look it, which is very useful sometimes. Hamal is albino, otherwise you would not see a difference. Our sister looks just like me."

"I'll go tell Dumbledore he's awake," Hamal said as he pushed away from the wall. Sudi nodded once and turned his attention back to Harry as his brother left the room.

"How are you feeling, Harry?" Sudi asked after a moment. "Are you still in any pain?"

Harry shook his head, though now he was glaring at the man again. "Why did you do this to me?"

Sudi sighed and looked away. "I did not have a choice, and I am truly sorry that I did it."

"Why didn't you have a choice?" Harry demanded.

"It is very complicated–"

"I have plenty of time," Harry said shortly.

Sudi smiled very faintly and nodded. "Very well. Our prince, Bran, and the prince of another tribe, Aubrey, are currently at war with each other. Many of us have been dying, because neither will concede defeat, even though what they are fighting over is hardly worth the effort."

"So what does _your_ war have to do with _me_? I'm a wizard–or I used to be, anyway."

"Because our war has become your war, Harry Potter. As soon as your Lord Voldemort returned, Aubrey went to him for assistance. Naturally, Prince Bran has joined Dumbledore's side. All this has happened in a very short period of time, of course."

"But why–"

Sudi raised a hand to stop him. "Hamal and I are extremely close to Prince Bran. In fact, Hamal was Turned by one of his uncles, and he and his lover are the prince's two most trusted advisors. Aubrey knows this. A week ago, our sister was captured by Aubrey's forces."

"I'm sorry," Harry murmured sincerely.

"Thank you. Our sister is everything to us; losing her was like losing a limb. You can imagine how devastated we were. We went to Aubrey as soon as we found out to ask what we could do to release her."

"And he sent you to me," Harry said dully.

Sudi nodded with an apologetic look. "We did not realize how close Aubrey was to Voldemort. Apparently, Voldemort wants you killed, though we do not know why. As soon as he told us all we had to do was kill you, a human, we agreed and left to find you."

"Without telling your prince or Dumbledore of course."

"Prince Bran has never understood our devotion to our sister, and we did not know you were one of Dumbledore's. And we were not expecting you to be so young. We watched you for several days and but neither of us felt we should kill you, even to save our sister. After all, you were not even fifteen yet; how much harm could you do to a wizard nearly four times your age?

"But we also could not allow you to go on in such a weak form. We knew that if we did not kill you, Aubrey would send others with far fewer morals, and if this Voldemort really wanted you dead, he would come after you as well, and you were no match for him."

"So you decided to Turn me."

"Yes. We did not want to, but there was no other way. We waited until the new moon, when our blood is strongest, to do it. I took your blood; Hamal gave you his. Your relatives and the Squib in your neighbourhood believe you are dead, or they did until Dumbledore arrived and reassured them that you were still alive. He brought you back here while Hamal modified their memories so they would still believe you are dead. That way, when Aubrey goes by to check, he will believe you are dead also."

"So, why did it seem like there was only one of you?" Harry asked, thinking back to what little he remembered about that night. "You're the one who talked to me, and you kept saying 'I' and 'me.'"

"Because it was my idea to Turn you," Sudi answered softly. "Hamal dislikes Turning humans–he has only ever Turned three in his life–but I showed him that it was necessary. If he were alone, he probably would have killed you."

Harry paled and stared at him. "But I thought you said–"

"I did, but Hamal has very few morals as well. More than some, but far fewer than he should. It is a result of the prejudice he received when we were growing up, I believe. I convinced him that killing you would be like killing our sister; the two of you look very similar in age."

Harry shook his head and buried his face in his pillow. "I can't believe _he_'s my...what do I call him?"

"Traditionalists would say 'master,' but I doubt you would be comfortable with that. 'Maker' or 'Sire' would be fine." Sudi suddenly smirked and leaned forward to whisper, "Or 'father,' he hates to be called that. It gets to him every time."

Harry shook his head, though he filed away that information for later. "I don't think I could call him that."

"Are you two done yet?" Hamal growled from the doorway; Harry started and glanced over, slightly glad that Dumbledore wasn't there as well. He needed some time to get used to everything before he faced the old man again. Besides which, he had a feeling he'd be more comfortable in the presence of the two Vampires if no one from his old life was around.

"Do not be foolish, little brother; you have barely been waiting one minute," Sudi answered with a faint smile.

"Long enough. Dumbledore said we can take him out to learn how to Feed and fly," Hamal said, hardly glancing at Harry. "I'd like to go before the sun rises."

Harry's heart sank as he focused on the second part rather than the first. "We can't go out in sunlight, then?"

Sudi shook his head sadly. "I am afraid not, Harry. Although the sunblock you humans use does help quite a lot. And I'm sure wizards have some potion that would allow us to walk in sunlight."

"We can go out at the full moon, though," Hamal said with a shrug. "Ra knows why that's an exception, but we can."

Harry frowned in confusion. "Why is it so complicated?"

"I just said, 'Ra knows why,'" Hamal answered, clearly annoyed. "Come on, if we don't hurry, we won't have any time." And with that he turned and disappeared from the doorway.

"Would you like help getting up, Harry?" Sudi asked, holding out a hand. Harry nodded and pulled himself to his feet, then almost immediately fell back again. A sharp pain flew through his back and he jumped up, this time falling forwards into Sudi's arms. Bewildered, Harry glanced back for the source of his sudden inability to balance himself and gasped.

"I have wings!" he exclaimed, subconsciously spreading his pitch-black wings so he could see them better.

Sudi chuckled softly. "Yes, you do. Did you not notice ours? We have had them out the whole time."

Harry blushed and ducked his head. "I did, but I didn't realize I'd have them too."

"They are lovely," Sudi murmured, reaching back to touch one of Harry's wings. Harry shivered slightly at the touch and instinctively shifted away from it, feeling as though he shouldn't let the older Vampire touch them.

"Forgive me, I have not see a fledgling's wings in some time. They are always so much more beautiful than an older Vampire's." Sudi smiled faintly as he drew back his hand. "It will be easier for you balance if you fold your wings against your back. Would you like me to help you?"

Harry was about to refuse, but when he took a hesitant step forward and his legs threatened to give out under only half his weight, he nodded. "Yes, please."

Sudi wrapped an arm around his waist and helped him walk shakily out of the room. Hamal was waiting for them at the top of a flight of stairs.

"Finally. Could you two be any slower? I swear, brother, you're acting like you've got a crush on him," Hamal muttered as they caught up to him. Sudi blushed very faintly and Harry grimaced.

"You are making a temple out of air, Hamal," Sudi answered as they started down the stairs.

"I'm making a temple out of sand," Hamal answered, rolling his eyes. "Really, Sudi, that's what you're acting like. I should know; I did the same thing."

Sudi gave him a significant look, as though to speak with him without sound. Hamal's eyes suddenly widened and he glanced briefly at Harry.

"Perhaps I'm mistaken then," Hamal suddenly said with a shrug. "Sorry."

Harry glanced between them in confusion. "What's going on?"

"It is nothing, Harry. Hamal merely realized he said something uncouth," Sudi answered pleasantly. Hamal rolled his eyes and hurried forward a few steps.

"He doesn't like me, does he?' Harry asked softly, watching Hamal with guarded eyes.

"No, he does. He is just very shy around people he does not know very well, which is almost everyone in this house, so he is feeling very nervous right now."

Harry just nodded and focused on walking again. Then he frowned and looked back up at Sudi. "How old are you? Hamal said 'Ra' earlier; Ra was Egyptian, right?"

Sudi nodded with a smile. "You are very perceptive. We are over four thousand years old. We were human during the reigns of King Khufu and King Khafre in the Black Land of Khemet, or Egypt I believe it is called now."

"Wow," Harry murmured in awe, finding it very hard to wrap his head around that number. Four thousand years was a _really_ long time. He wasn't sure he'd want to live even half that long.

"It's no good," Hamal muttered as he walked back to them; one of his hands was charred black. "You two spent so long yakking the sun already rose. We'll have to wait until tomorrow."

"You cannot say you are surprised, brother; Harry hardly woke a half an hour ago."

Hamal flushed, something that probably would have been insignificant on anyone else with colouring in his skin. "I lost track of time..."

"That's hardly surprising either." Sudi smiled and turned back to Harry. "Your friends will be waking soon, and many of Dumbledore's are in the kitchen already. Would you like to go see them?"

Harry shook his head immediately; he didn't think he'd be able to bare it if he had to see people who were once part of his world but were now so far from his grasp. A sinking feeling formed in the pit of his stomach; Ron and Hermione might be worried about him, but they would be returning to Hogwarts soon, leaving him behind to deal with his new existence on his own. They would probably forget about him after a while, or they would drift apart so much that forgetting would seem the better choice.

Harry shook his head again and started back up the stairs to his room. He heard Sudi and Hamal follow him after a moment and start talking to each other, but he didn't bother to pay attention to what they were saying.

About halfway back up the stairs, a sudden pain jolted through him and he collapsed, barely aware of his fellow Vampire's exclamations or the arms that encircled him so he wouldn't fall down the stairs. All he knew was the pain flowing though him, centred around his stomach. He felt as though he would die, could feel his body rebelling against itself, and nearly cried out again.

Then something warm and wet was pressed against his lips and he immediately turned his head away, his fear taking over. The last time he'd drunk that blood, he'd been Turned into a Vampire and his whole life was stripped away. He couldn't drink it again; it would just cause another nightmare.

"No, Harry, you have to drink!" Hamal's voice commanded angrily as the blood was pressed against his lips again. "You'll die if you don't drink _right now_!"

Well, that certainly wasn't an option. No matter how much he detested the idea of taking in the blood again, he would not allow himself to die. He hadn't lived through facing Voldemort in June just to die now because he wouldn't Feed when he was supposed to. He reluctantly opened his mouth to drink, sighing inwardly when his instincts took over and he latched onto the source of the blood.

He let out soft whine when the blood was pulled away from him but resisted the urge to grab it back again; he wasn't hungry anymore, after all, and he was already starting to feel disgusted with himself.

Shakily and clinging to the man holding him, he stood and opened his eyes. Hamal had been the one to catch him and was managing to look concerned even through his cold façade, while Sudi was standing nearby, calmly licking blood off his arm. The elder man smiled faintly at Harry bewildered expression.

"Now that you're Turned, you can drink my blood as well. It would have killed you before," he said in explanation, though that really explained nothing.

Harry looked away and shook himself free of Hamal. "I think I'm going to go back to bed for a while."

Sudi flashed him a concerned look, but Hamal merely nodded. "I think we should all go to bed. We're going to have a long night tomorrow."

Harry barely looked at either of them as he started climbing the stairs again. He didn't want to think about what tomorrow would bring yet; he was still dealing with what had happened in the short time he'd been awake today.

* * *

Harry woke to insistent banging on his door. He heard Hamal groan softly as he woke as well, the rustle of fabric as the ancient Vampire stood, and the brush of his feet against the floor as he headed over to the door. Harry almost smiled grimly; he had a feeling that whoever was on the other side would wish they hadn't woken Hamal.

"Who are you?" demanded a voice when Hamal pulled open the door. Harry winced; he'd be able to recognize Ron's voice in a crowd.

"That's none of your business," Hamal growled back, sounding extremely peeved.

"Of course it's my business! Harry's my best mate; I think I've got a right–"

"Ron!" That would be Hermione, Harry thought grimly. "Harry probably isn't even awake yet. The sun only set five minutes ago."

So they knew. Harry sighed and turned his head away toward the wall as if that would make them go away. He'd known it was likely that they knew, but he'd been hoping that they didn't.

"That's right, Weasley; my fledging is still asleep," Hamal hissed. "I'd appreciate it if you'd remember that the next time you decide banging on a Vampire's door is a good idea. I may not be so kind to you in the future."

Harry could practically feel Ron's outrage as Hamal slammed the door shut and smiled faintly; served him right for hardly caring how he was during the past few weeks of the summer.

"You need to teach your human friend some manners, Harry," Hamal said as he stalked back over to the bed he'd conjured for himself that morning.

"How'd you know I was awake?" Harry asked, turning his head again so he could see the other Vampire. Then he started slightly and stared. "Your wings are gone!"

"Of course; we only brought them out to prove to you and Dumbledore that we're Vampires. They're a nuisance most of the time," Hamal said with a shrug. He flopped down onto his bed and clasped his hands behind his head. "As for your question: I can sense how you're feeling at all times. It's pretty obvious to me when you wake up. But I wasn't about to tell your behaviour-challenged friend that."

"How to I get rid of my wings?" Harry asked eagerly, beating down his immediate annoyance at the insult to Ron; he knew what Hamal meant about them being a nuisance. He was about ready to tear them out himself.

Hamal eyed him for a moment. "Well, I suppose it's a place to start. Can't go stalking down mortals when you still look like their worst nightmare. Grab your pillow and follow my instructions."

Harry frowned in confusion but pulled his pillow into his arms anyway. Hamal smirked slightly.

"There isn't a real reason for it; it's mostly to give you something other than yourself to tear into once we start," the Vampire said with a slight shrug. He ignored Harry's horrified look as he went on, "Now, focus on pulling your wings back into yourself. If it helps, visualize how you were before without them. Don't stop when it starts to hurt."

Harry nodded and imagined his wings going back into his body. Immediately, his mouth opened in a silent scream; Hamal hadn't said it would hurt _this_ bad.

"Why does it hurt so much?" he hissed.

"Your body isn't used to it yet. It'll be much easier and won't hurt at all after the first few times," Hamal answered calmly. "Keep going."

Harry gritted his teeth and pulled harder. After what seemed to be an eternity, the pain stopped and he collapsed, panting as though he'd just run race. The pillow in his hands had almost been ripped in half.

Hamal nodded in approval. "Much faster than my other fledglings. Sudi took nearly a quarter hour his first time. You might want to brace yourself again."

"Why?" Harry asked, a second before his wings burst from his back again, splattering blood everywhere. He cried out in pain, mostly because he hadn't been expecting it.

"Because your wings never stay in for longer than a few seconds the first time," Hamal answered, having the audacity to look amused. "Now, do it again."

"You've got to be kidding," Harry said desperately.

"I'm not. You'll need to withdraw them several times before they'll stay. As soon as it doesn't hurt, you can stop."

"Wait, where are you going?" Harry asked, for Hamal had just stood and started toward the door.

"I'm going to tell Dumbledore that we'll be going out soon," Hamal answered absently. "Keep working."

Harry stared in disbelief as Hamal walked out of the room and shut the door behind him. That was it? He wasn't going to stay to give moral support or advice or anything? Why did he have to get stuck with a Sire like that? Hamal probably thought he'd run for help as soon as he tried again. Harry glared once at the door before gritting his teeth and trying again. He would show Hamal; he didn't need anyone around for him to master this.

Harry sighed in relief when, four tries later, he was able to retract his wings with ease and without pain. He was extremely glad he wouldn't have to go through that again. When he got back to school, he was going to have to revise a few of the Defence Against the Dark Arts books; none of them mentioned how much it hurt to become a Vampire. Then he remembered that he wouldn't be going back to school and wasn't so happy anymore.

Hamal walked in a moment later and tossed a set of clothes to him. "There's a bathroom down the hall. Go take a shower and put these on."

"What took you so long?" Harry asked with a glare.

"I was getting you some decent clothes," Hamal answered simply as he strode over to Sudi's sleeping form. "Now get going."

Harry sent another glare at him that was ignored before gathering up the clothes and walking out of the room. He was only a few steps down the hall before a pair of voices yelled, "Harry!"

Panicking, Harry looked around for the bathroom, but he couldn't tell which door it might be, and before he could move more than a step, someone crashed into him and hugged him from behind.

"Oh, Harry, it's so good to see you! We thought you'd died! What happened to you? You're covered in blood!"

"He still needs to breathe, Hermione!" Ron said as he walked more sedately up to them. Hermione blushed and let go of Harry.

Harry forced a smile on his face as he turned back to them, but couldn't think of anything more to say than, "Hey."

"So, how have you been?" Ron asked awkwardly; Harry's smile faded slightly when the red-head wouldn't meet his eyes. "No one'll tell us anything, except that you'd been Turned..."

"Fine," Harry said, lying through his teeth. "Listen, I really can't talk right now; my, um, Sire wants to leave as soon as possible and he doesn't seem like the patient type. Could you tell me where the bathroom is?"

Harry told himself firmly that it did not hurt when Ron and Hermione suddenly looked as though they'd been slapped.

"It's the third door down from yours," Ron said slowly.

"Are you sure you can't wait a minute, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, I really don't want to make him mad. Thanks." Harry gave them another brief smile before walking away. He found it extremely hard to resist the urge to look back at them as he turned into the bathroom and shut the door.

* * *

One blissful shower later, Harry stuck his head out of the bathroom, glanced up and down the hallway, then hurried back to his room. He really didn't want to meet up with Ron and Hermione again or anyone else for that matter. Seeing their faces had only reminded him of the life he'd been forced to leave behind.

Both Hamal and Sudi nodded in approval as soon as he stepped into the room.

"Finally, you don't look like you're about to fall out of your clothes," Hamal commented. Harry flushed and shifted uneasily; it wasn't his fault all his clothes were three or four sizes too big. In fact, he'd grown so used to it that he was feeling rather uncomfortable in the clothes Hamal had given him, which actually fit him properly.

"My old clothes were fine," Harry muttered. He was surprised when it was Sudi who shook his head.

"You look much better in these, Harry. I cannot imagine what your relatives were thinking when they got you such large clothes."

"They didn't get me any clothes," Harry admitted. "Those used to be my cousin's, but he grew out of them."

Sudi and Hamal shared a look, though Harry couldn't tell what either of them might be thinking. Then Hamal stretched and pushed him back out of the room.

"Come on, then; it'll be sunrise before we know it and we've hardly done anything."

Sudi shook his head in amusement as Hamal grabbed one of Harry's wrists and pulled him along at his own pace.

Not for the first time in the past couple days, a feeling of dread was beginning to form in Harry's chest. Hamal had said multiple times exactly why they were going out, and each time made Harry look forward to it less. Now he was almost tugging on his arm to get the elder Vampire to slow down.

"Are you sure we have to go out now?" he asked desperately when they reached the ground floor. "I mean, can't it wait a little while?"

"Absolutely not," Hamal answered with finality. He glared back at Harry when the brunet opened his mouth to protest again, and Harry shut his mouth at once.

Harry sent him once last, despairing look as the Vampire pulled open the front door, but Hamal seemed not to notice at all as he pulled his fledging out into the night air. Harry's heart sank further as he heard Sudi pull the door shut behind them, though a second later he twisted around in panic.

"What about my wand?" he asked frantically. "Voldemort's still at large; we might be attacked any minute..."

"You don't need a wand anymore," Hamal answered at once, tugging him forward again.

"You have two extremely old Vampires with you, Harry," Sudi said, sounding much more consoling. "If anyone comes for you, we can easily take care of them."

Deep down, Harry wasn't much consoled at all, since the whole reason he was with these Vampires was Voldemort, who had other Vampires on his side now as well. Then he remembered that Sudi had said that Voldemort probably thought he was dead and allowed himself to be dragged off down the street with less resistance.

"Can you Apparate?" Hamal asked after a moment. Harry looked up at him, startled.

"Can you?"

"Of course we can." Hamal frowned down at him for a moment. "I suppose you're probably too young to have learned though..."

"Yeah, we can't get a licence until we're seventeen," Harry said.

"We will help you then," Sudi said as they stopped on a street corner. "You would need to know where to go anyway."

"On three then?" Hamal said to his brother, who simply nodded and took Harry's other wrist. "One...two...three..."

Harry expected it to hurt, or at least be uncomfortable like everything else about being a Vampire had so far seemed to be. Instead, it felt rather like his body had suddenly dissolved into air with no discernable substance or form, and then just as suddenly become solid again. Other than being light-headed upon arrival, Harry felt he quite liked Apparating.

"Of course, Vampire Apparition is quite different from the wizarding kind," Hamal said as he let go of Harry's wrist; Harry realized with a start that he hadn't said anything aloud about it, so the man must have been reading his mind. Annoyed, Harry imagined throwing Hamal out of his head and had the pleasure to see the elder Vampire wince.

"Sometimes, I almost think you learn _too_ fast, Harry," Hamal muttered as he turned away.

"Where are we?" Harry asked curiously, looking around.

"One of the back alleys in the middle of London," Hamal said absently. "One of the best places to Feed in Britain–"

"As long as you do not get caught by the Ministry. They are not fond of Vampires Feeding on their doorstep," Sudi added.

Harry started feeling rather cold and was sure it was not because of the night air. "Feeding...?"

"Yes, Feeding. That's what we're out here to do," Hamal said, rolling his eyes. "Now, what you need to do is–"

"I can't do it," Harry whispered. "Whatever it is, I can't do it."

"Of course you can," Hamal said impatiently. "You're a Vampire now, Harry, whether you like it or not. You have to Feed, or you'll die."

Harry shook his head; that may have worked on him that morning, but not now. There had to be another way.

"There isn't another way," Hamal said.

"Stay out of my head," Harry retorted, glaring up at the pale man.

"You have no other choice. You either Feed, or you die."

"I don't care. I can't do it."

Hamal let out a frustrated sigh and dragged his fingers through his hair. "We don't have time for your simple human morals–"

"Hamal..." Sudi murmured warningly before turning to look patiently at Harry. "There really is not another way, Harry. If there was, do you not think we would be teaching you that?"

"But, doesn't it mean I'll have to kill someone?" Harry whispered, feeling sick at the thought.

"No," Sudi answered at the same time as Hamal said, "Yes." They glanced at each other for a moment before Sudi elaborated, "No, you will not have to kill anyone, but it is very hard for fledglings to know when to stop in time to leave their victim alive."

"I'm supposed to help people, not kill them," Harry said desperately.

Hamal growled lowly. "We don't have time for this–"

"Well, excuse me if I didn't lose my morals as soon as I was Turned, like you apparently did!" Harry snarled back.

"You don't know anything about me!" Hamal sneered.

"I know enough!" Harry retorted.

"How did you deal with Minkah?" Sudi asked, cutting off Hamal's response. The albino turned his glare on his brother instead of Harry.

"Minkah never had this problem," Hamal replied. "None of you had this problem."

"Really? He does not seem like the type," Sudi said, obviously surprised.

"As soon as I told him we only Feed on sinners, he was all for it," Hamal said with a nod. "Which is what I was about to say, until I was so very rudely interrupted..."

"Who's Minkah?" Harry asked curiously, glad to have something else to focus on.

"My lover," Hamal responded. "Not that it's any of your business."

"Anyway, what is more important is what else Hamal said," Sudi said quickly, as though to prevent another fight. "That we only Feed on sinners. The Ministry may not believe us when we tell them so, but we only Feed on those who have committed a serious crime, like murder, or those who truly wish to die. Never on the innocent or those with a will to live."

"It's still wrong," Harry murmured, shaking his head. Hamal made as though to move toward him, but Sudi held an arm out to prevent him. He then moved himself to kneel in front of Harry and look up into his face.

"I know it is difficult to accept, Harry," he said softly. "Believe me, I felt the same way when I joined the army. I often felt disgusted with myself after I killed an enemy soldier. What if they had families as I did? And were they not just following the orders of their commanding officers, as I was? But it was what I had to do."

"And you don't think those things anymore?" Harry whispered.

"Of course I do, which is why I don't kill. And I still remember the face of every soldier I killed while I was human. But we have no other choice. This is how the gods made us, so this is what we must do. The least we can do is to take out those who are unworthy of life."

Harry squeezed his eyes shut so he could think better. He was still revolted by the idea, and was sure he always would be, but his hunger was also growing stronger and he didn't want a repeat of that morning, especially where others would be able to hear it and come investigating. After a moment, he shuddered and reluctantly nodded his head.

"What do I have to do?" he asked, barely audible.

Sudi nodded with a sad smile as he stood. "You need to call out to anyone who is wicked or wishes to die. Just concentrate on sending out that message and their souls will react to your call and they will come."

"What if there isn't anyone like that around?" Harry said, both genuinely curious and trying to stall for time.

"Then we will move to another location and try again. But humans are fickle, selfish beings; I do not think we will have a problem."

Harry sighed and closed his eyes again, reaching out with his other senses instead. Feeling slightly silly and dreading it all the same, he mentally called out a promise of death and vulnerability. Then he opened his eyes again and looked around.

In front of him, Sudi had his own eyes closed and seemed quite relaxed. Hamal had moved to lean against one of the walls of the alley and was watching one end of it with a bored expression.

Then out of the blue, a man and a woman turned into the alley, moving in a dazed way like they were in a trance. Hamal hardly paid them any notice as they passed him and stopped in front of Harry and Sudi. Harry paled slightly as he looked at them, especially the woman; she couldn't have been older than twenty-five. Yet he couldn't help but find the smell of them absolutely delicious and felt his fangs elongating in response to his hunger.

"There's only one thing I think I need to tell you about this part," Sudi murmured as he moved to stand before the woman. "You must not drink after the heart stops. It will pull you into death with it."

Harry shuddered in disgust but still shifted closer to the man. He didn't seem to notice his surroundings at all and the stench of alcohol played on his breath, making Harry shudder again. Nevertheless, he took a deep breath, reminded himself firmly that he was a Gryffindor and Gryffindors were brave and that he would do this if he didn't want to die, and took one of the man's wrists in his hands to bite down into the soft flesh.

Surprisingly, as the blood pouring into mouth, his first reaction wasn't to gag, but to moan. The sound of the man's heartbeat in his ears was soothing, and his blood was heady and rich, like some thick expensive wine. And the pleasure...it had only been better when he'd been Turned. At that moment, there was nothing else in the world he'd rather be doing.

All too soon, though, the heartbeats became weaker and began speeded up desperately, trying to pump blood that wasn't there. Harry pulled away seconds before they finally stopped and watched dazedly as the man fell to the ground.

A second later, he dropped to his knees himself in horror at what he'd just done. He'd just killed a man, and he'd enjoyed doing it. He felt dirty and tainted and wondered in a rather detached way whether Voldemort had ever felt like this. They were the same now, after all, both murderers.

"You had better not really be thinking that," Hamal's sharp voice said, cutting into his thoughts. "You are nothing like that foul wizard. He kills because he feels like it. No doubt you'll only kill out of necessity."

Harry stared hopelessly up at him. "I just killed that man!"

"Of course you did. That's what you do now; you kill." Hamal sighed and suddenly looked more sympathetic than Harry had seen so far. "I'll acknowledge that this must be very difficult for you. But you are not a murderer, Harry, no more than a lion or a crocodile."

He held a hand down to Harry and pulled the brunet to his feet when it was accepted. Harry glanced briefly down at the two lifeless bodies on the ground.

"Are we going to leave them here?" he asked softly, hardly protesting as Hamal pulled him away from them.

"No, that could alert the wrong people to our existence. Why do you think there aren't mass Vampire hunts? No, we do this." Hamal snapped his fingers and both bodies went up in flames. Harry watched in horror as after only a few seconds, the flames died away, leaving only ash in their wake.

"Now," Hamal said before Harry could comment, "I've heard from Dumbledore that you're an extremely good flyer on a broom, correct?"

"Yes," Harry answered hesitantly.

"Good, maybe your next lesson won't be as difficult as the last two. We're going to teach you how to fly properly. Sudi's already left to secure the site."

Harry stared at him in shock, almost unwilling to believe it. Was there actually something _good_ about being a Vampire after all? "Where?"

Hamal smirked as he gripped Harry's arm, preparing to Apparate them away. "Ever heard of a place called Stonehenge?"


	3. Ch 2: Battle and Boldness

A Modern Myth

Chapter II: Battle and Boldness

As soon as Harry felt solid again, he looked around excitedly. He'd only ever seen Stonehenge in pictures in books and on TV, and he'd never dreamed of ever being able to visit it. And now he was standing in the heart of it, surrounded by the giant stones.

A moment later, he felt a wave of power wash over him. Looking around in confusion, he gasped as he saw that the stones were not only illuminated in weak moonlight as he had thought but were also glowing a soft blue themselves. Not only that, but ghostly forms of other stones filled in the gaps where real stones had fallen, so that the circle seemed both whole and broken.

"Is it supposed to look like that?" Harry whispered, feeling as though he shouldn't speak any louder, as he gestured vaguely.

"Like what?" Hamal asked as he started walking out of the circles of stones.

"All blue and glowy and...well, that," Harry said as he followed, unsure of how to describe it without sounding crazy.

"If you mean, can Muggles see it like this, no," Hamal answered. "Only magical folk can. You're not crazy; it's supposed to look like that to you."

"Why?"

Hamal paused just inside the largest ring on stones and looked thoughtfully up at them. "I think it may be the magic of the area. That's why it was built anyway, the magic told the builders what it wanted here and they built it. My master brought me here to Turn me, and though it had barely been started, I could see all of this after I was Turned."

"It must not translate to pictures, then, because I've never seen this before..."

"No, it doesn't. Some Muggles have imagined what it used to look like rather accurately, though."

Harry followed him completely out of the stones but paused not far from them to stare at Hamal in shock. "Wait, you were a Muggle?"

"What makes you think that?" Hamal asked absently, his eyes searching the skies.

"You said you couldn't see this before you were Turned."

"I did say that, didn't I? Yes, I was a Muggle, a...special one, but still a Muggle. My whole family was distinctly non-magical. Minkah was a wizard, but we didn't have things like wizards and Muggles in my age. What mattered was whether or not you would have been a good priest." Hamal smirked slightly. "I would not have."

Harry opened his mouth to comment, but Hamal suddenly pointed upward, cutting him off. "There he is."

Harry looked up only to see what seemed to be a large bird circling overhead. As the bird flew closer, he saw that it was really a man with enormous wings—Sudi, undoubtedly. He was hardly able to believe his eyes; they really _could_ fly with their obnoxious wings. There was something good about being a Vampire after all.

Sudi landed lightly nearby, bare-chested and windswept, and started walking over almost before he was fully touching the ground. "There is no one around," he said, absently brushing black locks out of his eyes. "I believe we will be able to stay until morning."

"Excellent." Hamal pulled his shirt off without hesitation and let his wings burst from his back. "Let's go, Harry; shirt off, wings out."

Harry reluctantly pulled off his shirt and let his wings burst free, marvelling that he didn't feel cold at all. Immediately, he felt an urge to fly and experimentally willed his wings to move, amazed when they actually flapped a couple times.

When he looked over at Hamal, he was just as shocked to see the other Vampire was smiling.

"Thanks be to Horus that you actually have a will to fly," Hamal said, probably not even noticing the grin on his face. "This is going to be so much less painful."

"I love flying," Harry said with a return grin. "It was the best part of being a wizard."

"It is the best part of being a Vampire, too," Sudi commented.

Hamal snorted softly. "No, it's not."

Sudi just smiled, shaking his head. "Of course, we disagree on this point. Anyway, it looks like you already know how to move your wings. All you need to do now is flap them hard enough to get off the ground."

Harry nodded and focused on flapping his wings hard. He nearly fell over when he suddenly rose a half an inch off the ground, but he was still grinning. It was like every Quidditch player's dream come true: the ability to fly under his own power. Concentrating, he tried again.

After only a few minutes, he was panting and dripping with sweat from exertion, but he'd also managed to stay a metre above the ground for over a minute. Sudi smiled and clapped when Harry finally touched down again.

"Very good, you do have a talent for this."

"Really? It feels like I should be doing better than this," Harry said as he lifted off from the ground, intending to try to move around this time.

"Oh no, you're doing extremely well," Sudi said with a laugh. "Most of us give up our first time because it is so difficult."

"But this isn't hard at all!" Harry protested. "Just tiring."

"Which only proves you have a talent for it," Hamal said with a shrug. He was in the air with Harry by this time and was languidly riding the air currents to swoop around the boy.

"Can we do this until dawn?" Harry asked next as he began following Hamal around.

Hamal scowled back at him. "Only if you quit doing that."

Harry laughed for the first time in days.

* * *

Harry was still exhausted the next night when he woke, but he was so hungry he never entertained the thought of falling asleep again. First and foremost on his mind was getting food; anything else could wait.

Unfortunately, both of his mentors were still fast asleep. Harry glared at both of them for a good minute before realizing absently that it wouldn't do any good. Then he debated inwardly whether waking either of them would be a good idea before finally moving over to Sudi's bed to shake him awake.

Sudi woke with agonizing slowness. Harry was about ready to just grab his wand, which he'd found in his trunk, and leave without him when he finally sat up and looked around.

"What is it, Harry?" he asked sleepily after a moment.

"I'm hungry. I need food. Now," Harry answered shortly. Now that Sudi was awake, he strode over to his bedside table and grabbed his wand, stuffing it in his back pocket.

"You are very insistent for this early in the evening," Sudi murmured, sounding as though he'd like nothing better than to fall back asleep but standing nonetheless.

Harry glared at him, trying to portray his immense hunger in one look. He did not want to go through nearly starving to death again and that meant they had to go _now_.

Sudi sighed and gestured for him go first. "All right. I am glad you did not decide to wake Hamal. He would have torn you apart."

Harry ignored the sounds of people sitting down to dinner that were emanating from the kitchen as he passed it. He still did not want to talk to anyone, though he was sure he would have to soon, possibly even tonight. He didn't know whether his Sires had a plan for tonight or not.

As soon as they were out of the house and Sudi Apparated them away to wherever, Harry called out for his victim, and as soon as she was close enough, he bit into her neck. He couldn't even care whether or not it was wrong as he did so; all he could think about now was of filling his belly and morals had no place in that train of thought. He could feel Sudi's surprise, but he couldn't care less about that either. Let Sudi be surprised; he was _hungry_.

As soon as he was finished and no longer starving, however, he let the woman's body fall and backed away, feeling slightly sick. He'd just killed in cold blood again, and he'd hardly been aware of doing it. Was he such a monster that he'd kill no matter how much he truly didn't want to? Couldn't he even control himself a little, just enough to make sure he wouldn't make mindless kills? What if he went for Ron or Hermione next or any of the other people staying in Grimmauld Place?

He noted absently in his guilt that the night was starting to feel quite cold, but he didn't immediately register that as odd as he wasn't used to being a Vampire yet. Then he heard Sudi give a soft gasp next to him and looked up.

The faint light of the nearby street lamp was gone; in fact, the entire alleyway where they'd come to Feed was pitch black. He looked up to see that the stars were gone as well. Not only that, but it felt as though a weightless cushion had been pressed over his other senses; he could barely even hear his own breathing, and the constant odd smells he had just been getting used to had vanished. Harry felt a chill shoot through him that was not from the sudden biting cold of the alleyway.

They couldn't be here...not in the heart of London...people would know, they'd have been stopped first...he strained his ears, hoping to hear something in the pressing darkness.

Then Sudi's hand gripped his arm so tight he'd thought it would break, but he was hardly surprised. His own heart had almost stopped still as he heard the faint rattling breaths coming from another being in the alleyway.

"Harry..." Sudi whispered; Harry's heart nearly stopped again from the terror in the older Vampire's voice, "what is happening?"

"It's dementors," Harry whispered back, shifting closer to Sudi. "Do you know what they are?"

"No..."

Harry's eyes closed, not that it really mattered. He was alone then, and he had to protect Sudi as well as himself.

There were two of them.

And he was starting to get rather tired of not being able to see a thing. He said, "_Lumos_" without waiting to think of whether he was allowed or not and looked over to his left.

His stomach turned a somersault.

Barely a metre from them and gliding ever closer was a towering hooded figure, its slimy scabbed arms outstretched. He heard Sudi gasp behind him and instinctively shifted closer to the other Vampire, stumbling slightly.

"_Expecto Patronum!_"

But only a silvery wisp of vapour shot from his wand and disappeared in seconds. He could hear the second dementor now and his arm was beginning to feel numb from how hard Sudi was grasping it. _Sudi_...he thought of Sudi's smiling face and tried again.

"_Expecto Partonum_!"

His voice sounded feeble even to himself. Another wisp of silver smoke formed, this one slowing the dementor but not stopping it. Sudi's panic began mingling with his own as the dementor pushed aside the feeble silver cloud—he couldn't do it—the spell just wouldn't work.

He could hear someone laughing nearby, insane, high-pitched laughter, and someone was screaming nearby as well, and his panic only increased tenfold. He nearly fainted as the dementor's putrid breath hit his nose, choking him...

_Come on, think...something happy..._

Sudi's breathing was harsh behind him...icy fingers closed around his neck...the laughter was coming closer and the voice along with it—just like at the graveyard, no one would know what had happened to them until it was far too late...

Cedric would think it was all his fault if he found out—

Numerous letters and a shining, happy face burst into his mind as he fought to stay conscious—

"_EXPECTO PATRONUM!_"

His beloved silver stag burst forth from his wand straight into the dementor, its antlers catching it in the chest; the creature was flung back and swooped away before the stag could charge again.

"OVER HERE!" Harry shouted to the stag. The silver beast wheeled around and galloped back toward them; Harry shoved Sudi back out of the way as a streak of silver passed them and caught the dementor in its antlers. The stag flicked its head and whipped the dementor into the opposite wall. The thing fled before it could get hurt again, following its fellow into the darkness. The stag shook its head in triumph and dissolved into silver mist.

Harry let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding as he felt his senses come back to him and saw lights come back on wherever they'd gone out. Obviously, Sudi felt the same way as he soon lessened his grip on Harry's arm. Harry winced slightly; Vampiric healing powers or none, that was going to leave a bruise.

"They're gone?" Sudi asked hesitantly.

"Yes," Harry asked, though he was looking around cautiously. Whoever had brought the dementors might still be around.

"What were they?"

"Dementors. They feed on happiness and suck souls out of people," Harry explained briefly. "You've never met a dementor before."

"No, never." Sudi shuddered. "I am glad I had not. They were horrible."

"What the hell happened to you?"

They both whipped around at the voice. Hamal was stalking towards them, looking both fearful and furious. Sudi let out a soft cry and ran forward into his arms, looking much more like the younger brother. Harry followed him more slowly, stowing his wand away in his pocket.

"We ran into a couple of dementors," Harry answered. "You know what they are, then?" he added when Hamal's eyes widened.

"Yes, I had the misfortune to meet one once before." Hamal held a hand out to him, the other arm still tight around his brother. "C'mon, we'd better go back. No doubt Dumbledore's found out about this already."

Harry nodded and took his hand, hardly enjoying the sensation of Apparition this time. He'd just remembered that he completely shattered the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, which he'd already gotten a warning for before because of Dobby. He had no idea what the Ministry would do to him now, but he was sure that he wouldn't like it.

Twelve Grimmauld Place was a bustle of activity. They nearly ran into Mr Weasley as they walked in the door, but he barely said hello before Apparating with a _crack_. Further inside, people Harry had never met were running about, yelling at each other, obviously about something extremely urgent.

"Oh, Harry, there you are! We were so worried!"

Harry gasped as he was suddenly enclosed in a bone-crushing hug. He coughed a couple times when she finally let go.

"Hi, Mrs Weasley. What's going on?" he asked, gesturing at the people rushing about.

Mrs Weasley shook her head and waved them into the kitchen, where Sirius, Lupin, Ron, and Hermione were waiting. Sirius jumped to his feet and rushed forward, pulling Harry into a quick hug as well before holding him out at arm's length to look him over.

"It's great to see you again, Harry," he said softly after a moment. Harry just nodded.

"You too. What's going on?" he asked again, but before anyone could answer, he froze as Lupin slowly got to his feet.

He stared at Lupin as the man walked forward, a strange feeling bubbling up in his chest. It took him a moment before he realized it was hatred and revulsion, something he thought he'd never feel for Lupin. The man paused in front of him for a brief moment, then hurried past and out of the kitchen with his head bowed.

Still bewildered by all this, Harry almost didn't notice that he was now being steered toward the table. For the first time, he noticed the parchment lying there as well as his name printed on it.

"Is that mine?" he asked softly, pointing at the parchment. Hermione nodded wordlessly and handed it to him.

_Dear Mr Potter,_

_We have received intelligence that at precisely twenty-three minutes past nine o'clock this evening, you performed the Patronus Charm in a Muggle inhabited area._

_The severity of this breach of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery has resulted in your expulsion from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Ministry officials will be calling upon your current residency shortly to destroy your wand._

_Also, as you have already received an official warning for a previous offence under section 13 of the International Confederation of Wizards' Statute of Secrecy, you will be required to attend a disciplinary hearing at the Ministry of Magic at 9 a.m. on August 12th._

_Hoping you are well,_

_Yours sincerely,_

_Mafalda Hophirk_

_Improper Use of Magic Office_

_Ministry of Magic_

Harry had to read through it twice, his breath speeding up each time he read it. He was expelled from Hogwarts, and his wand was going to be destroyed. It was all over.

Then he suddenly scanned the letter again before looking up at the others. "Hang on, how can I be expelled if I'm not allowed back to Hogwarts anyway?"

Immediately he had the impression that he'd said something wrong. Both Weasleys were staring at him like he was crazy and Sirius had gentle smile on his lips.

"What are you talking about, Harry?" Ron asked after a moment.

"You read this, right?" Ron nodded slowly and Harry only grew more confused. "I'm a Vampire. I'm not allowed back at Hogwarts, right? So how can I be expelled?"

"Where did you get the idea that you wouldn't be allowed back at Hogwarts?" Mrs Weasley asked gently.

Harry looked between them, completely nonplussed. "I'm not a wizard anymore..."

"That doesn't mean you won't be allowed back," Sirius said, shaking his head. "You can still do wizard magic."

"So...I really am expelled?" Harry asked hesitantly. "I can still go, but I'm expelled?"

"Dumbledore's gone to sort everything out," Sirius said. "They don't have the power to expel you."

Harry felt a hope bloom in his chest. He could still go back to school if Dumbledore could fix everything; he'd still be able to see Ron and Hermione and Cedric.

"Why don't you explain what happened while we wait, Harry?" Mrs Weasley suggested, steering him into one of the chairs around the table. Sirius sat down on one side, while Hamal sat Sudi down on the other, preferring to stand behind his brother rather than sit.

Harry nodded and took a deep breath before he began recounting the brief events of the night, glad that he'd woken less than an hour before so he didn't have much of a story to tell. He kept his eyes on the table as he told the first bit about being so hungry he'd barely known what he was doing, afraid to look at Ron and Hermione and see what he was sure would be disgust and horror written on their faces. After that, he didn't look any particular place, so distracted as he was remembering what had happened and the questions the filled his brain.

_Why_ had there been dementors in London? He knew perfectly well they'd been coming after him; after all, it was too much of a coincidence that they'd accidentally bump into a couple of dementors in a random alley. Hadn't Dumbledore said in June that if Voldemort asked, the dementors would only be too happy to follow him?

An uneasy silence filled the room once he was finished. He was actively avoiding everyone's eyes but his fellow Vampires', afraid of what he would see in the others' faces. Finally, Hermione was the first to speak.

"Well, that means they haven't got a case against you," she said, trying to sound excited but failing. "Even underage wizards are allowed to use magic in a life-threatening situation."

"Yes, but the Ministry are all going to think Harry just did all this for attention," Mrs Weasley murmured worriedly.

"What, summon a couple dementors for a bit of fun?" Harry said hotly before he could stop himself.

"Oh no, dear, Hermione's right; they can't expel you for saving yourself," Mrs Weasley said at once, looking startled. "But they might think you just conjured a Patronus for fun and came up with this story to explain it away."

"But I didn't!" Harry exclaimed furiously, nearly rising from his chair. "Why would they think that?"

"We know you didn't, Harry," Sirius said soothingly. "But if you hadn't noticed, you're not well liked within the Ministry right now."

"I—what?" Harry asked, bewildered. The others regarded him warily.

"Haven't you been getting the _Daily Prophet_, Harry?" Hermione asked hesitantly after a moment.

"Of course I have," Harry said. "But what's the _Prophet_ got to do with—"

"Have you been reading it cover-to-cover?" Ron asked this time.

"No, if there was anything on Voldemort, it'd be on the front page—"

All of the wizards winced at the name but Hermione quickly said, "Well, if you've only been reading the front page, you wouldn't have noticed, but they mention you several times a week."

"But then—"

"Not in a good way, though," Ron added, shaking his head. "It's really nasty stuff, what they're printing."

"They've made you look like a bit of a joke, actually," Hermione said, looking disgusted.

"Basically, they've made you out to be a spoiled, attention-seeking, nut job," Sirius said bluntly.

Harry stared at them, aghast. "Why? Because of what happened in June?"

Sirius nodded gravely. "Exactly."

Before another word could be said, an owl suddenly swooped into the kitchen and dropped a letter in front of Harry. Harry hardly waited for the owl to leave before he ripped open the envelope and pulled out the letter.

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_To further our letter of precisely thirty-eight minutes ago, the Ministry of Magic has revised its decision to destroy your wand forthwith. This decision will instead be made during your disciplinary hearing on the twelfth of August._

_Following discussions with the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, it has been determined that the question of your expulsion will also be decided at that time. You should consider yourself suspended from school until then._

_With best wishes,_

_Yours sincerely,_

_Mafalda Hophirk_

_Improper Use of Magic Office_

_Ministry of Magic_

As Harry re-read this letter again, his heart suddenly felt very light. He was not expelled and he could keep his wand. Better yet, Dumbledore had gone to sort things out, so he must still care for Harry, even if he hadn't shown it much over the summer.

"What does it say, Harry?" Ron asked eagerly.

"They've decided not to destroy my wand yet or expel me," Harry said softly, grinning up at him. "I've still got to go to the hearing though."

"Well, that's alright then," Ron said a relieved laugh. "You'll be able to prove your case in the hearing, no problem."

Harry smiled weakly as the others nodded in agreement, but he wasn't so sure himself. If the Ministry was so against him, would they even listen to him? He wouldn't put it past Fudge to just pass judgement on him without really listening.

He quickly asked about what the Order of the Phoenix was, something he'd been wondering for days, before anyone could ask him anything and was immensely grateful when a long discussion was instantly launched.

* * *

Harry barely glanced up from his book when he felt Sudi walk into the room, though he cheered inwardly that he was starting to be able to recognize who was who when someone walked into a room. That was a skill he was sure he would be able to use later.

The book in his hands was far too interesting for him to pay attention when Sudi sat down next to him, either. After a very long discussion with Sirius, Hermione, and the Weasleys (Fred and George had appeared in the doorway about five minutes after they'd started talking) over the Order of the Phoenix and Voldemort, Mrs Weasley had finally forced her children to go to bed, taking Hermione along with them. Harry had soon retreated to his room only to find several wrapped presents on his bed, one each from Ron, the twins, Mrs Weasley, Sirius, and Cedric. To his delight, both Sirius and Cedric had given him excellent looking books on defensive hexes and jinxes. After unwrapping everything, he'd started reading, ignoring everything else.

A glance at his watch told him it was three in the morning; he'd been reading for nigh on four hours. He wasn't surprised that Sudi had sought him out; the elder Vampire had probably been worried he'd come up here to off himself or something. It was only when he noticed that Sudi hadn't moved that he finally looked up at the Egyptian.

Sudi was wearing an expression like the one he'd had the morning they had met. Harry stared at him warily; the expression meant more bad news and more explanations of something.

"What is it?" he asked, closing his book on his finger to mark his place.

Sudi sighed. "There is something you need to know. Hamal does not wish for me to tell you yet, but I see no good in waiting."

A tendril of dread began curling its way around Harry's stomach. "What?"

Sudi paused and looked away for a moment. "There is no easy way to tell you this..."

"_What_?" Harry asked insistently.

"Harry, you are what we call a _Dyad_. Basically, your soul is now in two parts, your wizard self and your Vampire self," he explained at Harry's blank look.

"What does that mean?" Harry asked, knowing it could not be good.

"It means that the two parts of your soul are going to be at war with one another. You may have already noticed that. I believe it is why you find it so difficult to Feed. The Vampire in you needs it, but the wizard wants never to hurt anyone."

Harry nodded, still confused. "Why is that so special? Don't most people have that problem?"

Sudi shook his head. "Only wizards. We believe it is because wizards have magic of their own, so instead of being stamped out by the Vampiric nature, like what happens with Muggles, they become _Dyad_.

"It is special because _Dyad_ have a way to compensate for the feuding soul. _Dyad_ find mates in other humanoid magical creatures and bond with them."

"Bond?" Harry asked, utterly nonplussed again.

"A bond is like a marriage, only it is a marriage of souls. Bonded mates share everything from magical power to life force. Because of this, the mate of a _Dyad_ can ensure that the _Dyad_'s soul does not destroy itself. Thus, why it is essential."

"So...I have to find...a mate?" Harry asked hesitantly.

Sudi smiled faintly as he nodded. "You are very quick to catch on. Yes, that is what you must do."

"How?" Harry pressed, though he was utterly repulsed by the idea. It was like he had no control over his life; he couldn't barely even pick the person he had to spend the rest of his life with.

"At the next new moon, exactly a month from you Turning, your magic will begin giving out an Allure. It is similar to what Veela do; anyone in your presence who is not already truly attracted to someone else will become attracted to you."

Harry made a slight face. Just what he needed; fawning worshippers following him mindlessly about.

Sudi smiled grimly. "It will not be as bad as you think, Harry. Anyone with magical creature blood will feel this most of all. They will know immediately that you require a mate and will begin to court you as soon as possible."

Harry grimaced again. "So, I'm going to be fought over like a girl? Great."

Sudi laughed, shaking his head. "I do not think you will mind at the time. It will depend on what creatures are around. Anyway, the strength of your Allure will depend on the moon phases; it will be strongest around the new moon and weakest at the full. So that you do not attract a werewolf, I think."

Harry frowned slightly, remembering his reaction to Lupin earlier in the evening. "Probably."

"You do not have a time limit on this," Sudi added seriously. "You may take as long as you like finding a mate. But the longer you go without one, the harder it will become to live. Many _Dyad_ have killed themselves because they could not find one soon enough."

"You know a lot about this," Harry said suspiciously.

"Minkah is a _Dyad_ as well," Sudi answered with a faint smile. "He was lucky enough to find his mate immediately in his Sire. He is the only _Dyad_ I have ever known like that." He suddenly looked very serious again and added, "I feel I must warn you not to be upset if your mate ends up being male."

Harry paled slightly. "But I'm not gay!"

"That does not matter to your soul. If your soul finds one it is in harmony with, it will not matter whether that soul belongs to a male or female. None of your potential mates may be female either. I doubt you will care by that time, but I feel I must warn you anyway."

Harry shuddered as he looked away. Whenever he imagined himself with a partner, she was always a she, usually Cho Chang. He just couldn't imagine himself ever coming to like a guy that way.

"I am sure everything will be fine, Harry," Sudi said soothingly, placing a light hand on his shoulder. "You are a very flexible person."

"How will I know when I've found a potential mate?" Harry whisper after a moment, very glad that his voice didn't shake.

"You will probably know through smell, and some creatures have an Allure of their own. I do not think it will be a problem; you will know."

Harry nodded silently and shrugged off Sudi's hand. "I'd like to be alone for a while...to think about this..."

"Of course." Sudi stood and gave him a gentle smile. "If you need to know anything else, you are welcome to ask. I am sure Hamal will answer your questions as well, though he may not be as nice about it."

Harry laughed softly, though it was extremely brief. "I figured that."

Sudi laughed as well before bidding him goodbye and walking out of the room.

Harry sighed and lay back on his bed, his book falling forgotten to the floor next to him. It was bad enough he was only of these _Dyad_ things, but what if there was no one at Hogwarts (if he wasn't expelled) that had magical creature blood? Or what if—Harry shuddered—the only person was a _teacher_? He suddenly gained an image of Snape down on one knee before him and nearly retched. Unfortunately, he could easily believe Snape might have some Vampire blood in him. He desperately hoped not.

* * *

Over the next week, Harry did a lot of reading and thinking and very little cleaning. By the time he woke in the evening, most of the cleaning for the day was done and hardly anyone was awake by the time he fell asleep. He could tell everyday without asking what had been done, however. He knew, for example, that the nasty infestation in the drawing room was gone by that first Saturday, though he had seen no activity near the drawing room at all. Another nasty area near the kitchen, however, was never touched and Harry soon found out why.

Four days before the hearing, Harry woke to something rustling about in his room. Looking around, he nearly had a heart-attack when he saw a pair of huge bloodshot eyes barely an inch from his own. Backing up, he saw they belonged to a rather hideous, very old house-elf.

"Who are you?" Harry asked once his breathing had calmed.

"Kreacher," the house elf muttered in a hoarse, deep voice.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked crossly. His body was telling him it was far too early to be awake and he'd never liked being woken early.

"Kreacher is cleaning," the elf said evasively. Then to Harry's shock, he went on under his breath, "If my Mistress knew the scum wandering her house, oh what she'd say to Kreacher, Vampires and werewolves and Mudbloods and blood traitors, oh the shame of it..."

"You don't need to be cleaning in here," Harry hissed, starting to greatly dislike the elf already. "Why don't you go find something else to do?"

"Kreacher meant no offence to the Young Master," Kreacher said submissively as he bowed low. But as he shuffled out of the room, Harry clearly heard him mutter, "Unnatural brat he is, a Vampire and Harry Potter to boot, if only Kreacher's Mistress could see him now, what she would think of Kreacher..."

When Harry asked later, he was told that Kreacher lived in the nasty area near the kitchen that he'd been sensing.

The morning of the hearing dawned early, with several of the Order members closest to Harry waking early to wait in the kitchen for him. Harry headed downstairs to join the others when he felt more than three people in the kitchen, about half past five in the morning. Waiting for him in the kitchen were Mr and Mrs Weasley, Sirius, Lupin, Snape, to Harry's surprise, and Tonks, whom Harry had grown to like during their brief meetings over the past week. Harry did eye her curly blond hair enviously as he sat down at the table; she was a Metamorphmagus, able to change her appearance at will, and Harry had been most disappointed when she'd told him it was an innate ability rather than a learned one.

"M-m-morning, Harry," yawned Tonks, her eyes slowly looking around behind him. "Did you come down alone?"

Harry nodded. "Hamal offered to come with me, but I think he'd just get into trouble if he came with me to the Ministry. And Sudi disappeared a couple hours ago."

"You're probably right," she murmured, though she looked thoroughly disappointed. Harry fought back a smile; for reasons unknown, Tonks had taken an immediate liking to Sudi as soon as they'd met, and she often followed Sudi about when she visited. Sudi didn't have the heart to ask her to stop.

Lupin hardly glanced at Harry, his attention fixed on Tonks as he tried to reinitiate their previous conversation. Harry looked to Mr Weasley when he felt the man wanted his attention.

"How are you feeling?" Mr Weasley asked.

"Okay," Harry answered, glad that he wasn't speaking to one of his fellow Vampires. They would know instantly that he was lying.

Mr Weasley smiled tightly. "It'll be fine, Harry. There's no case against you; in a few hours, you'll be cleared."

Harry just nodded silently, unwilling to believe anything else.

"You'll be going to work with me. The hearing's on my floor, in Amelia Bones's office. She'll be the one questioning you."

"How will we be getting there?" Harry asked.

"We'll be Apparating," Mr Weasley said with a sigh. "I would take you by way of the visitors' entrance, but I don't know much about Vampires and how much sunlight you can tolerate. Dawn might kill you; I wouldn't know, but I don't want to risk it."

"Speaking of which," Snape suddenly interjected. Harry looked over at him in surprise; he hadn't thought Snape was actually there for him. He'd only seen the Potions master once in the last week, and that had been a very brief meeting in which Snape had made it clear that he still hated his old enemy's son. Harry had been sure that it was just by chance that Snape would be here on the morning of his hearing.

Mr Weasley had obviously known better. He nodded and left to wait by the door, leaving Harry a clear view of his least favourite teacher.

Snape dipped a long-fingered hand in a pocket of his robes; Harry braced himself for a curse, but Snape merely revealed a vial of red potion and held it out to Harry. Harry took it warily.

"What is it? Sir?" he added quickly.

"It is a potion that will enable you to remain awake during the day," Snape answered coolly. "The headmaster requested that I make it for you."

Harry blinked in surprise, looking down at the vial with a little awe. "Thank you. Sir."

Snape dipped his head once. "You will have to get used to it. You will need to take it every day of the school year."

Harry nodded, deciding it would be unwise to argue that he might be expelled.

"He has also asked me to create a potion that will allow you to walk safely in sunlight for the school year," Snape added, though he obviously was less pleased about that. Harry wasn't sure he liked the idea much himself; he could easily die if Snape didn't get it right or sabotaged the potion. He couldn't say he wasn't grateful that the professor was going to try, however.

"Thank you, sir," Harry said again.

Snape stood with another scowl. "You will need to drink that immediately, while your body feels it should still be awake." Then he swept out of the kitchen without another word to anyone, his robes billowing behind him as usual.

Harry warily eyed the vial in his hands. He did not think Snape would sabotage a potion when Dumbledore could easily find out about it, but he also wouldn't put it past Snape to try.

"You may trust him, Harry."

Harry blinked up at Lupin, but Lupin was already heading out of the kitchen himself. Figuring that Lupin, at least, could be trusted, though part of him was telling him otherwise, Harry uncorked the vial and downed the contents. He made a face at the bitter taste, but at least it was better than some potions he'd had to drink before.

"Are you ready to go, Harry?" Mr Weasley asked from the doorway. Harry nodded silently and stood, feeling a little sick now that it was finally time to go.

"Good luck," Sirius said behind him. "Stay calm and don't lose your temper."

Harry gave him a faint smile as he followed Mr Weasley into the front hall. Of course, Sirius had to remind him of that; the first day he'd finally had to relax, he'd had a spectacular shouting match with Ron and Hermione about what had happened over the first part of the summer, with him doing nearly all of the shouting.

"I think we'll have to leave from here," Mr Weasley said, glancing at the door. "Dumbledore said he'd take the anti-Apparition wards off the front hall today, in case we decided to leave from inside. I'll be Side-Along Apparating you."

"I can Apparate," Harry said indignantly. Indeed, his Sire had taught him just two days before, and he was eager to do it again. "And I can take the image of where we're going out of your mind." Which was the other skill he'd been taught the same day and was also eager to try again.

Mr Weasley smile ruefully. "I know, but I think it would be best if I took you, considering what your hearing is for."

"Oh, right." Harry had to admit he had a point, though he was still disappointed. Mr Weasley held an arm out to him.

"Hold onto my arm very tightly and move with me," he said. "And don't resist."

Harry nervously grasped Mr Weasley's arm, unsure of what he would be resisting. He found out the next moment; Mr Weasley twisted away from him and everything went black; he suddenly felt as though he was being forced through a very thin rubber tube, and he couldn't breathe. It was almost the opposite of Vampire Apparition; in that, he felt free and incredibly comfortable; this was horribly restraining and unpleasant. He was very glad when could finally breathe again and took in great lungfuls of air.

"Are you all right?" Mr Weasley asked, looking concerned.

"I'm fine," Harry answered, shaking his head as though to shake out the phantom feeling of compression. "But I don't think I'll be doing that very often."

It was then that he noticed he was covered in golden light. Panicking, he looked around and was very relieved to see the light came from writhing golden symbols in the ceiling and not the morning sun. Now that he was looking, however, it was hard to remember why he was here; the whole giant room glittered with gold, from the ceiling to the gilded fireplaces around the walls to the large fountain in the middle of the floor, dazzling his eyes. He barely noticed the throng of witches and wizards walking about or Mr Weasley's voice and a hand on his arm urging him forward.

"Over here, Harry," Mr Weasley said loudly, drawing the attention of several wizards around him, but not Harry's completely. Harry went through the motions of letting the security wizard check his wand and then walking with Mr Weasley across the large hall to the lifts without really realizing it, and it was only when the lift they'd entered had started clattering upwards and he lost side of the glittering gold that he came back to himself.

"Er, sorry, Mr Weasley; I dunno what happened," he said in apology, a little embarrassed. Mr Weasley just smiled.

"It's nothing to worry about, Harry. The Atrium does that to a lot of people."

Harry said little on the way up to the second floor where Mr Weasley's office was; he was far too nervous. Therefore, he was quite surprised when, as soon as they stepped off the lift, an old timid-looking wizard came rushing toward them, obviously quite panicked.

"Morning, Perkins," Mr Weasley said mildly, looking confused himself.

"Thank goodness, Arthur!" Perkins wheezed out, hardly sparing Harry a second glance. "I wasn't sure where to find you; usually you aren't here quite this early. An urgent message came for you a couple minutes ago!"

"What about?" Mr Weasley asked.

"The Potter boy's hearing—they've changed everything—it starts at eight now, and it's down in Courtroom Ten—"

"Courtroom Ten—but I was told—Merlin's beard!"

Mr Weasley had just checked his watch and was now tugging Harry back into one of the lifts.

"If we don't hurry, you'll be late!" he exclaimed as he furiously jabbed at the number nine button. "Can't think of why they'd be doing down there—haven't been used for years..."

Their lift remained empty as it made its way down to the ninth floor though Harry rather wished someone else would join them; it only made him more nervous to watch Mr Weasley shifting impatiently on his feet next to him.

"Department of Mysteries," said the cool female voice that told the floor numbers and what was to be found there to the people riding the lifts. Mr Weasley grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him out of the lift, speeding up a rather blank corridor. Harry expected them to go through the single black door the stood at the end, but Mr Weasley pulled him to the left down a set of steps instead.

"The lift doesn't even come down this far," he muttered, taking the steps two at a time. "_Why_they're doing it down here..."

He fell silent as they reached the bottom and set off along another corridor, this one fit to be in the dungeons of Hogwarts. Mr Weasley looked at each heavy wooden door as they passed it, shaking his head and muttering, until he finally stopped before the most imposing looking door of all.

"Go on," he panted, gesturing vaguely. "I think you'll just make it."

"Aren't you coming with me?"

"Not allowed...go on...good luck!"

Harry took in a deep breath to calm his violently beating heart and carefully stepped into the room. Then he stopped dead, unable to help himself.

The dimly lit dungeon he'd just stepped into was one he'd already been inside before, when he'd looked into Dumbledore's Pensieve the previous year. Nothing had changed except for the members of the shadowy figures sitting in the highest benches and the absence of an audience.

"Take your seat."

Harry became horribly aware of the silence of the room when the cold male voice broke it. He hurried forward to the chair in the centre of the room, but very gingerly sat down in it, not keen to have the chains on it arms wrap around his own. They clinked menacingly but did not touch him.

Feeling sick again, Harry looked up at the people seated above him. There were about fifty of all with Cornelius Fudge sitting in the front, probably in the seat of honour since he was the Minister. He was flanked by two witches, one with very short grey hair and a stern face, and the other sitting in shadow so Harry could not tell what she looked like.

Fudge drew himself up importantly. "Well then, let us begin. Are you ready?" he called down the row.

"Yes, sir," said an eager voice Harry immediately recognized as Ron's brother Percy. He stared at Percy in bewilderment; he couldn't imagine why Percy would be here.

"Disciplinary hearing of the twelfth of August," Fudge said and Percy begin taking hasty notes, "concerning offences committed under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery by Harry James Potter, resident of number four, Privet Drive, Little Winging, Surrey.

"Interrogators: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister of Magic; Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. Court Scribe, Percy Ignatius Weasley—"

"—Witness for the defence, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore," said a quiet voice behind Harry. Harry turned his head so fast his vision spun for a moment.

Dumbledore was walking sedately across the room, his features schooled into a perfectly calm expression. It didn't change when he drew even with Harry and looked up at Fudge. Harry found strength just in looking at Dumbledore, and suddenly, a good deal of his nervousness melted away.

"Ah, Dumbledore," Fudge said, looking quite nervous. "You—er—got the message that the—ah—the time and place of the hearing had been changed, then?"

"No, it must have missed me. But as I had some business in the Ministry a couple hours ago, I decided to stay and wait for it, so no harm done."

"Ah—I, uh, I see—I suppose we'll be needing another chair then—er—Weasley, if you could—?"

"No need, no need," Dumbledore said cheerfully. He flicked his wand and a very comfortable-looking armchair appeared next to Harry. Dumbledore gave Harry a very small nod as he sat down in it, then looked politely back up at Fudge.

"Yes, well then, so, the charges." Fudge seemed rather flustered as he pulled a piece of parchment out of the pile before him a cleared his throat. "The charges against the accused are as follows: That he did knowingly, deliberately, and in full awareness of the illegality of his actions, having received a previous warning from the Ministry of Magic, produce a Patronus Charm in a Muggle inhabited area on the second of August at twenty-three minutes past nine, which constitutes an offence under paragraph C of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875.

"You are Harry James Potter of number four, Privet Drive, Little Winging, Surrey?" Fudge asked, glaring down at Harry.

"Yes," Harry said.

"You received an official warning from the Ministry of Magic three years ago, did you not?"

"Yes, but—"

"Yet you willingly conjured a Patronus on the night of the second of August?"

"Yes, but—"

"Knowing you are not permitted to perform magic outside of school until you reach the age of seventeen?"

"Yes, but—"

"Knowing you were in a Muggle inhabited area?"

Harry blinked and shook his head. "I didn't know that at the time, actually."

"You didn't?" Fudge asked, obviously surprised yet still disbelieving.

"No, I didn't."

The stern woman next to Fudge interrupted him in a booming voice.

"You produced a fully fledged Patronus?"

"Yes," Harry said impatiently, "because—"

"A corporeal Patronus?"

"A—what?"

"Your Patronus had a clearly defined form? That is to say, it was more that just vapour or smoke?"

"Yes, it's a stag. It's always a stag," Harry said, whishing they would just let him explain what had happened.

"Always?" thundered Madam Bones. "You have produced a Patronus before now?"

"Yes, Professor Lupin taught me how in third year, because—"

"And you are fifteen years old?"

"Yes, but—"

"Impressive," Madam Bones said, leaning back in her chair. "A true Patronus at that age. Very impressive."

"The more impressive, the more serious the offence!" Fudge exclaimed, clearly annoyed at being interrupted. "Especially since he did it where any Muggle could have seen!"

"I did it because of the dementors!" Harry exclaimed loudly before he didn't have another chance.

"Dementors?" Madam Bones boomed in surprise. "What dementors?"

"The two dementors that came after me and my friend down that alleyway!"

There was a tense silence before Fudge smirked as though he'd heard a particularly good joke. "Ah, yes, I thought we might be hearing something like this."

"Dementors in Muggle London?" Madam Bones said in confusion. "I don't understand."

"Don't you, Amelia?" Fudge said, still smirking. "Potter here has obviously been thinking about how to get himself off the hook and thought that a dementor attack was the best story he could come up with. It's a bit more believable than a Lethifold attack, after all, though not much more!"

"I'm not lying!" Harry exclaimed angrily. "There were two of them, coming from opposite ends of the alley, and everything went cold and dark, and my friend saw them too—"

"Enough!" Fudge said, waving his hands. "I'm sorry to interrupt what must be a very well-rehearsed story—"

Dumbledore suddenly cleared his throat; everyone turned to look at him.

"We do, in fact, have a witness to the presence of dementors in that alleyway," he said softly, "one who is magical enough to have actually seen them."

Fudge stared at him for a long time. Harry stared at him too; the only other person who had seen what had happened was Sudi; surely Dumbledore wouldn't have brought him here? Finally, Fudge took in a deep breath and said tersely, "We haven't got time to listen to more tall tales, Dumbledore. I want this dealt with quickly—"

"I may be mistaken," Dumbledore said pleasantly, "but I am sure that under the Wizengamot Charter of Rights, the accused has the right to present witnesses for his or her case? Isn't that the policy of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Madam Bones?"

"True," answered Madam Bones. "Perfectly true."

"Oh, very well, then," Fudge snapped. "Where is this person?"

"I brought him with me," Dumbledore answered. "He is waiting just outside the door. Shall I—?"

"No—Weasley, you go."

Percy jumped to his feet and hurried over to the door. Harry glanced around when he heard a magnified gasp come from all in the room but Dumbledore and gasped as well, hardly able to believe that what he'd suspected was true.

Stalking toward them, looking both calm and furious at once, was Sudi, though Harry hardly recognized him. He'd donned very loose, pure white robes and a fair amount of jewellery and makeup, so that he looked as though he'd just stepped out of a history book. The only exception to this was the pair of giant black wings protruding from his back and spread out slightly so the Wizengamot would be able to see them clearly. Like Dumbledore, when Sudi stopped next to Harry, he looked up at Fudge, though in fierce defiance rather than calm.

"What is the meaning of this, Dumbledore?" Fudge demanded furiously, his eyes glancing nervously between Sudi and the headmaster.

"This is our witness," Dumbledore replied cheerily. "You did say we could have one."

"I—yes, well—I—very well, then." Fudge turned to eye Sudi derisively. "Your full name?"

"Sudi Kafele, High Knight of the Raven Order of the Castle of the Sky, High Advisor to his Eternal Majesty Prince Bran of the Dark Angels, and Third Chancellor of the International Vampire Council. Just Sudi is fine, however."

Fudge suddenly looked rather furious, but his voice remained steady as he continued, "And how is it you know Mr Potter?"

Sudi stayed silent for a moment and glanced thoughtfully down at Harry. "I am the brother and fledgling of Harry's Sire," he answered finally, turning his dark eyes back on Fudge.

Fudge sputtered and nearly fell out of his seat. "His _what_?"

"His Sire," Sudi answered calmly. He looked back down at Harry and smiled faintly. "Would you mind showing them? I am not sure the Minister understands what I mean."

Harry nodded dumbly and stood up to release his wings, ignoring the rip of fabric as they burst through his shirt. Someone in the balcony shrieked.

"As you can see," Sudi said calmly as Fudge sputtered some more, "Harry is a Vampire as well. I am the brother of his Sire and his brother in blood."

"How is this possible?" Madam Bones asked, her voice no longer booming quite as loudly as before. "We have no records of a successful Turning. It cannot be done."

"You have no records of it because we allowed you no records, Madam," Sudi answered. "Forgive me for my lack of modesty, but we are a much more intelligent race than your own. We can easily predict what your actions in a certain situation will be, and in this case, we knew you would react much the same way you have towards the werewolves."

"Of course we would!" exclaimed the second witch next to Fudge in a very high-pitched, girlish voice. She'd leaned forward and Harry could see her clearly now; she reminded him strongly of a giant toad.

Fudge glanced at her once. "The Chair recognizes Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister."

The witch hardly seemed to noticed him. "Mr Kafele—"

"If you wish to be formal, madam, the term 'Chancellor' is preferred," Sudi said coldly.

Umbridge suddenly looked rather furious, but she quickly schooled her face into a polite smile. "Of course, Chancellor Kafele," she said sweetly, "but I was simply wondering why you would think that this act is excusable. Mr Potter must have been Turned against his will, and that act is a crime under the Vampire-Wizard Alliance of 17—"

"I wasn't," Harry said softly, almost before he realized he'd said it. All eyes turned onto him.

"You weren't what, Mr Potter?" Umbridge asked.

"I wasn't Turned against my will," Harry said, louder this time. Of course, he knew he was lying, but the thought that Sudi or Hamal could get in trouble, maybe even imprisoned, made him feel physically sick, especially since it was something they hadn't wanted to do in the first place.

"I didn't want it at first," Harry continued, "but they explained about what it was like and I asked for it. And I'm not sorry I did, either."

All of the judges seemed rather taken aback by this. Fudge recovered first, clearing his throat importantly. "In any case, this hearing isn't about Vampires or Turning. It's to examine Harry Potter's offences under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery. What is your story, M-Chancellor Kafele?"

"We had just gone to that alley to Feed," Sudi answered calmly, ignoring the looks of horror on a few faces. "Harry was hardly a week old, so I was with him to protect him. He'd only just finished when the alleyway went dark, so dark even I could not see through it. And it grew extremely cold as well, so cold I could feel it, and I have not felt cold in a thousand years.

"I must admit, I was terrified. I had never encountered anything like this before. I asked Harry, and he told me there were dementors, but that meant nothing to me."

"You've never encountered a dementor before?" Madam Bones asked in surprise. "How old are you?"

Sudi smiled faintly and shook his head. "I am four and a half thousand years old, but no, in all that time, I had not encountered a dementor. My brother had, but I had not. I have lived in Egypt nearly my entire life, however, and I have heard dementors dislike climates like ours. May I continue?"

"Oh, yes, of course."

"Harry pulled out his wand and lit it so we could see. Very close to us was a giant cloaked figure with horrible scabby skin. There was another gliding toward us from the other end of the alley as well.

"Harry tried to produce a Patronus but failed. I started hearing voices from a long time ago, sounds of the battlefield, men and women begging for their lives as I lead my soldiers into their villages." Sudi shuttered slightly. "It was awful."

Harry saw Madam Bones' eyes widen at this and prayed that was a good thing.

"Harry tried again and still failed. I was starting to panic; I had no idea what these dementors did, but I knew it was not good. The one closest to Harry grabbed him and leaned down as though to kiss him, and Harry suddenly managed to produce a Patronus." Sudi smiled and glanced at Harry as he spoke, "It was such a beautiful animal. I only wish I could produce something so beautiful.

"The stag attacked the dementor holding Harry and it fled. Then Harry directed it to attack the dementor closest to me, driving it off as well. The unnatural darkness and cold lifted, and next I knew, I was in my brother's arms." Sudi made a slight face as he added finally, "I hope to never encounter those awful creatures again."

"Is that all?" Fudge asked imperiously.

Sudi nodded once. "That is all."

"Very well. You may go," Fudge said, shuffling his papers.

"I would like to stay, if that is all right," Sudi said softly.

Fudge glanced down at him, looking very unbalanced, before gesturing vaguely. "Fine, stay, but you'll need to get your own seat."

"That is not a problem." Sudi waved his hand and a chair appeared next to Harry's. "Retract your wings and sit down, Harry," he murmured as he did the same.

Harry nodded and did as he was told, glancing nervously up at the judges as he did. Fudge looked wholly unconvinced, as did Umbridge, but Madam Bones was nodding as she looked to them.

"A very convincing account," she said in her booming voice. "He described the dementors and the effects of an attack very well."

"But dementors wandering into a Muggle area and just _happening_ to encounter a wizard?" Fudge said. "The odds are very long...even Bagman wouldn't have bet."

"Oh, I don't think any of us here believe the dementors were there by coincidence," Dumbledore said lightly.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Fudge demanded.

"It means I believe the dementors were ordered there."

"I think we'd know if two dementors had been ordered into Muggle London!" Fudge retorted.

"Not if the dementors are taking orders from someone other than the Ministry these days," Dumbledore answered calmly. "You know my views on this, Cornelius."

"Yes, I do," Fudge said coldly, "and there is no reason to believe your views are nothing than nonsense, Dumbledore. The dementors remain at Azkaban and are doing everything we ask them to."

"Then the question remains as to why there were two dementors in the alleyway on the night of the second of August."

"If they were there at all," Fudge said.

"Of course they were," Sudi interrupted icily. "And they seemed rather determined to do us in. If the dementors are under your control as you say, then someone within the Ministry must have ordered them there."

Silence reigned after this statement. Then Umbridge suddenly gave a very girlish giggle.

"Forgive me if I misunderstood you, Chancellor," she said with a smile that didn't come close to reaching her cold eyes, "but for a teensy moment, it sounded as though you were suggesting someone in the Ministry ordered an attack on this boy!"

She gave a silvery laugh that sounded very fake, and no one else joined in. A few of the other judges were frowning thoughtfully and shaking their heads.

"That is exactly what I was suggesting," Sudi answered. "Since the Ministry seems so intent on denying Voldemort's renewed existence, that must be the only option. If it is true the dementors are taking orders from the Ministry, and we were attacked by dementors, than the Ministry must have been responsible for it. Unless, by denying you are, you are admitting you believe Voldemort has returned after all..."

Fudge had gained a most unpleasant expression, and Umbridge looked as though she'd been slapped across the face. Madam Bones, however, simply frowned as she stared thoughtfully down at him.

"We are not here to discuss whether You-Know-Who is back, or whether dementors have gone rouge!" Fudge exclaimed suddenly. "We are here to discuss the actions of Mr Potter—"

"Which has everything to do with those dementors," Sudi said calmly. "I have read your laws concerning this matter, Minister. Harry did nothing wrong. He saved his life and mine."

"If there were really dementors, which I doubt—"

"You have heard from an eyewitness, a victim, in fact," Dumbledore interrupted. "I am sure Sudi would not mind being questioned again if you doubt his story."

"I—that's not—I want this done with today, Dumbledore!"

"But naturally, it would not matter how many times you listen to his story, since he is a Vampire and must therefore be a lying murderer not worth listening to," Dumbledore said.

"That has nothing to do with it!" Fudge exclaimed, though he flushed slightly as well. "But on that note, as a Vampire, Potter won't be allowed to own a wand or return to Hogwarts after this—"

"The Ministry does not have the power to expel Hogwarts students, as I reminded you on the night of the second of August," Dumbledore said calmly.

"But it does have the power to strip non-humans creatures of their wands," Fudge retorted with a triumphant smirk. "And as Vampires are classified as non-human, Potter is no longer allowed to own a wand."

It was like a like a slap in the face, and though Harry had expected it, it didn't make hearing it any easier. He'd known from the start that he wasn't human anymore and that his wand would be taken away, but it had seemed a little surreal until now.

Sudi, however, gave him a comforting smile before looking back to the judges. "That is only true in the case of Muggle Vampires and Born-Vampires, Minister. According to the Vampire-Wizard Alliance of 1739, any wizard who is Turned and retains his magic is allowed to own and use a wand." He cocked his head with another faint smile. "You may look it up if you wish, or you could ask dear Madam Umbridge next to you. I am sure she would know. She did bring up the Alliance earlier."

"Laws can be changed," Fudge bit out.

"Of course they can," Dumbledore said with a bow of his head. "And you certainly seem to be making some changes, Cornelius. Why, in the few short weeks since I was asked the leave the Wizengamot, it has already become the practice to hold a full criminal trial to deal with a simple matter of underage magic!"

A few of the judges shifted uncomfortably, and Fudge flushed an unpleasant shade of puce.

"As far as I am aware, however," Dumbledore continued, "there is no law yet in place that says this court's job is to punish Harry for every bit of magic he performs or every decision he makes. He has been charged with a specific offence and has presented his defence. All we can do now is await your verdict."

Dumbledore calmly sat back and said no more. Harry glanced between him and Sudi, startled that the hearing was going to be over so quickly, while trying to ignore the whispers of the Wizengamot that he could hear as well as if they'd been talking next to him. Sudi sent him another comforting smile and took one of Harry's hands in his own.

_'Everything will be fine, little brother,' _said Sudi's voice in his mind, making him jump slightly. He wasn't sure if he'd ever get used to that, either the voice, or Sudi's odd nickname for him. _'They cannot rule against you; you have done nothing wrong.'_

_'They'll try,' _Harry said back.

_'I doubt that. They know who I am and who your Sire is. Everyone knows of us. They will not want to give us a reason to be angry at them. Not that they haven't already.'_

The whispering suddenly stopped. Harry back up at the judges, his heart hammering very fast in his chest.

"Those in favour of clearing the accused of the charges brought forth today?" boomed Madam Bones. Harry's breath caught as many hands rose into the air—more then half, it looked like, far more! But before he could finish counting them, Madam Bones said, "And those in favour of conviction?"

Fudge raised his hand, as did Umbridge and a witch in the back row, but they were alone. Fudge glanced around, looking as though he'd swallowed something very sour, before lowering his hand again.

"V-very well...cleared of the charges of the second of August," he muttered just loud enough to be heard.

"Excellent," Dumbledore said as he got to his feet. He waved his wand and the armchair he'd been sitting in disappeared. On Harry's other side, Sudi did the same with his hand. "Well, we must be getting along. It's far past my dear friends' bedtimes you know. Good day to you all."

Dumbledore gestured for Harry and Sudi to follow as he turned and swept out of the dungeon. Harry grinned up at Sudi and moved to follow, but Sudi held him back.

"Want to shock them again, Harry?" he whispered, glancing mischievously at Fudge.

"How?"

"By Apparating out of here."

Harry grinned again and nodded. Both he and Sudi turned to give a mocking bow to Fudge and Umbridge before Apparating back to their room in Grimmauld Place.


	4. CH 3: Ever Dream

**A Modern Myth**

**Chapter III: Ever Dream**

Harry walked into the kitchen the next night to find his friends sitting at the table with very downcast expressions. He frowned slightly, wondering absently why no one else was in the kitchen and what could have happened to make them so upset.

"What's wrong?" he asked cautiously. Ron started violently and paled, while Hermione gasped and immediately hid something crackly under the table.

"Oh! Harry!" she exclaimed, sounding rather high pitched. "We didn't realize you were up. Have you eaten yet?"

"Yeah, I just came back from that." Harry frowned as he sat beside Hermione. "What are you hiding?"

"I'm not hiding anything," Hermione squeaked.

"Is it a _Prophet_?" he persisted.

"No!"

Harry sighed and grabbed for the paper. Surprisingly, she let it go, and he was able to lay out it flat on the table. His expression hardened as soon as he glanced at the first headline.

FUDGE TO CONSIDER VAMPIRE HUNTS

"Has anyone else seen this?" he asked slowly.

"Sudi and Hamal haven't, 'cause they haven't come in yet, but everyone else has," Ron said hesitantly. Harry let out a controlled breath, but he didn't feel like calming down.

"This is because of what happened yesterday, isn't it?" he asked softly.

Hermione just sighed and pointed to the small article underneath the first one.

BOY WHO LIVED: SAVIOUR OR SLAYER?

_Yesterday, during a hearing concerning his delinquency, Harry Potter revealed that he is far more than just delinquent: he is now a vampire._

_How he became a vampire is a mystery to all but the second vampire who arrived to plead his case. No known records of a successful Turning exist. It was an issue discussed by the Vampire-Wizard Alliance of 1739, even though a Turning had never happened._

_Not so, said the second vampire, Sudi Kafele, reportedly the brother of the infamous Hamal Kafele who has claimed over a thousand lives to date._

"_You have no records of it because we allowed you no records, Madam," he told Madam Umbridge. We can assume, then, that there have been many Turnings, but we do not know about any of them. The prospect of this is unnerving._

_As for how this will affect Potter, a member of the Wizengamot had this to say: "It was frightening. I thought he would attack me if I didn't do what he wanted. I don't think he should be allowed on the streets or in school."_

_As vampires tend to be bloodthirsty and cruel, this may be a fair assessment of everyone's feelings about Potter._

"Great, so not only am I crazy, but I'm a psychopath too," Harry said, slamming the paper down onto the table.

"Harry—" Hermione began, but Harry was no longer listening. He abruptly stood and stalked out of the kitchen, the paper nearly tearing from the force of the clenched hand holding it. He nearly ran into Sudi on the way out the door, but rather than apologizing like he usually would, he shoved the _Prophet_ into the older vampire's hands and stalked away up the stairs to his bedroom before Sudi could register what had happened.

He sighed as he flopped down on his bed, hoping he could calm down a little but instead only feeling more furious and confused. He wasn't even sure _why_ he was so furious, just that he was.

He closed his eyes and tried to focus on what exactly he was feeling. Anger, of course; anger at Dumbledore for letting Sudi testify, anger at Sudi for doing it, anger at the Ministry for going to such extreme measures against the vampires so quickly. Fear was in there too; he was afraid of being killed by the people he was supposed to be protecting, and he was afraid of losing his Sires to those same people. He was afraid of being expelled from Hogwarts simply because no parent would want her child exposed to a vampire for that long. Then there was confusion, mostly about why this was causing such an uproar in the first place. Sure, he was a vampire now, and yes, vampires seemed very scary, but what he'd seen so far of the vampire world made him seriously question what he'd always thought about them. Vampires did kill to eat, but so did every other carnivorous or omnivorous animal, including humans.

"Why do they seem to hate us so much?" he wondered aloud.

"Because we're different."

Harry sat up so fast his head spun and he had to lie back down again. He sat up much more sedately after a moment to frown in confused as Hamal stepped inside the room and closed the door behind him.

"Humans naturally fear that which they don't understand," Hamal continued as he moved to sit on the bed next to Harry. "Fear turns to hate because then they feel they have an excuse to avoid that which is different."

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked suspiciously. Hamal had only once shown any amount of kindness toward him, and that was an experience he was glad he would never have to repeat.

"Sudi showed me the articles," Hamal answered. "I came up here to make sure you wouldn't do anything rash."

"Like what? Flying off to kill Fudge? Killing myself before they can?" Harry laughed bitterly. "You don't know me very well."

"No, like you blowing up the house in a rage because you can't control your emotions," Hamal said bluntly. "Which is something you could do unless I set you straight on a few things."

Harry turned away with a bitter smile. "We're all going to be hunted down and killed, even me. What is there to set straight?"

"For one thing, we are _not_ going to be hunted down," Hamal said with so much surety that Harry glanced at him surprise.

"What do you mean? You read the articles. There's no way Fudge will pass up on a chance like this."

"It would be breaking the law," Hamal answered simply. "The Alliance between our two peoples forbids it. It also can't be changed without the agreement of both parties in the Alliance, and I highly doubt any vampire would be willing to agree."

"That won't intimidate Fudge," Harry said dully. "He'll still allow hunts."

"And he'll be found dead the morning after, killed by the highest members of our society. And he will be followed by the foolish wizards who even suggested the idea." Hamal sneered faintly. "I'm sure Fudge knows this. It's in the terms of the Alliance as well."

Hamal's sneer turned into an equally unpleasant smirk. "Besides which, we're able to hide more completely than almost any other magical being. Even if hunts were authorized, I doubt any vampires would be destroyed."

"None of this would have happened if Sudi hadn't been there yesterday," Harry muttered.

"And you wouldn't be going back to Hogwarts either," Hamal added as he stood. "I'm telling you, you're worried about nothing. Nothing will come of this except a lot of reassured wizards thinking the Ministry really does know what they're doing."

Harry frowned as Hamal left the room. Somehow, he was hardly reassured.

* * *

"Harry! Booklists have arrived!" 

Harry groaned softly and turned away from the annoying sound. It felt far too early to be awake.

"C'mon, Hermione doesn't want to open them without you and she's getting really annoying."

"Ron!"

Harry opened his eyes just enough to glare at the two shapes hovering above his bed before drifting off to sleep again. He was already out by the time the two shapes began backing warily out of the room.

When he woke again a couple hours later, he hardly remembered the incident as little more than a dream and thus immediately made his way to the front door so he could Apparate to a remote part of London to Feed. He was far less opposed to it now that Sudi had taught him how to Feed without killing his victim. It was rather difficult but he'd never been more determined to master a skill than he was with this.

He was in a relatively good mood when he walked back through the front doors of Grimmauld Place. That mood was shattered when a scream suddenly echoed from the sitting room. Panicking, he ran to see what the commotion was.

And he began laughing as soon as he entered the door. Hermione, who must have screamed, sat staring at the paper in her hand in shock, a small badge sitting in her lap. Everyone else in the room seemed frozen in place as they stared at her in horror.

"What's going on?" Harry asked once he could breathe again. Hermione started but immediately leapt up and run over to him.

"Open it, quick!" she ordered, pressing a familiar letter into his hand.

Mostly just to humour her, he slit open the envelope and pulled out the letter. To his surprise, a small badge like the one Hermione had clattered to the ground. Frowning, he bent over and picked it up. A red and gold lion wrapped around an elegant 'P' stared back up at him.

Hermione screamed again. "I knew it! Oh Harry, me too!"

Harry just stared at the badge in shock. He'd completely forgotten that prefects would be picked this year. Even if he had remembered, though, he never would have expected this. He felt even Neville would be a better prefect than he would. The badge felt awkward in his hand.

Twin groans came from the doorway as the twins walked into the room and saw the badge in Harry's hand.

"A prefect, Harry?" Fred said in mock disgust.

"Guess your rule breaking days are over now," George added with a sigh.

"At least our brother's got the right idea," Fred said, gesturing at Ron's badge-free hands.

"Good to know we've rubbed off on him," George agreed.

Mrs Weasley pushed past them into the room. "What is all the commotion about—" She suddenly screamed much the way Hermione had. "Prefect! Harry, that's wonderful!"

Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He did not want to deal with all this right now. Why couldn't he have gotten a normal letter and Ron the badge? Why did it all happen to him?

"We'll have to throw a party," Mrs Weasley continued, her whole form tense with excitement. "And we haven't celebrated your birthday properly yet either! We'll have a party for both!"

"I think I'm going to go lie down," Harry muttered as he stuffed the badge and parchment back into the envelope.

"Are you all right, Harry?" Hermione asked in concern as he headed for the door.

"I'm fine," Harry answered. He hurried up the stairs to his room and locked the door before anyone could follow.

How could anyone think he was prefect material? He'd probably broken half the rules by now, including frequently sneaking out at a night and illegal trips to Hogsmeade. He doubted the Weasley twins would have given him the Marauder's Map had they know he would be a prefect hardly two years later.

He sank down on the bed and stared at the letter in his hand. He hated to disappoint Dumbledore, but mischief was in his blood, not to mention trouble followed him everywhere. He doubted he would be able to go a day with breaking some rule, and he wouldn't even need to try.

"What's wrong with you?"

Harry started, dropping the letter to the floor. Hamal rolled his eyes and walked over to pick it up.

"How'd you get in?" Harry asked with a frown. He hadn't heard the door open, and when he looked over, it seemed untouched.

"I walked through the door," Hamal said simply. "What is this?"

"You walked though...?"

"It was simple. What is this?" Hamal asked again, pulling out the parchments and the badge to look at them.

"Hogwarts letter, booklist, prefect badge," Harry said, frowning slightly. He'd thought walking through solid objects was physically impossible, even for wizards.

"Congratulations," Hamal said absently, his eyes roving over the letter.

"You might think that," Harry muttered.

Hamal raised an eyebrow and his gaze shifted to look at him over the parchment. "What do you mean?"

Harry sighed as he fell back flat onto the bed. "I don't want to be a prefect. I don't know what Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall were thinking when they picked me. The only students who break the rules more often than me are the twins."

"They must think you're capable of it," Hamal answered with a shrug, turning back to the letter. "Obviously you don't break the rules enough."

"Yeah, obviously..."

"Besides, who says you can't break the rules as a prefect? You just have to be cleverer about it."

Harry blinked and stared at him. He could have sworn his Sire had grinned for a moment at the mere thought.

Hamal brandished the booklist. "Do you want to go pick this stuff up? Several shops in Knockturn Alley stay open all night for our kind."

Harry glanced at the closed door. "I think the Weasleys might want me to go with them..."

"During the day?"

Harry started and stared at him. He hadn't thought of that. If the only shops that would be open all night were in Knockturn Alley, the chances the Weasleys would go with him were next to zero. The chances that he could go with the Weasleys during the day were practically zero as well, unless Snape suddenly turned up at the door with the potion that would allow him to walk in daylight.

He sighed. "When do you want to leave?"

"When Sudi returns," Hamal said, almost sounding self-satisfied. "I'm not sure what's taking him so long, but I think we should all go together, considering where we're going."

Harry nodded and got up to find something to wear. He was sure Hamal would skin him if he stayed in his pyjamas.

* * *

Harry was very glad that they managed to sneak out of Grimmauld Place without the others knowledge. He did not want to explain to anyone where they were going and why. He'd been sensing that most of the Weasleys and the Order were uncomfortable with the fact that he was now a vampire. 

He glanced over at Sudi as they entered Knockturn Alley. The elder vampire was clearly not pleased with this trip, though he was hiding it well. Or rather, he was sulking at being bullied into coming, which was hiding his unease about the whole thing.

"The bookshop's near the end of the alley," Hamal said after a moment, gesturing in that direction. Unlike his brother, Hamal looked completely at home. "And the Apothecary's before that. Do you need any Potions supplies?"

"Yeah, a few," Harry answered. He glanced around; he was about as comfortable here as Sudi seemed to be.

"Then we'll go there first." Hamal turned and began strolling down the street without another word. Sudi frowned slightly but followed regardless with Harry not far behind.

Harry stopped dead in the doorway of the Apothecary, ignoring Sudi's confused glance. Standing before the counter, and talking almost amicably with Hamal, was Lucius Malfoy.

Harry felt his blood run cold as Mr Malfoy's eyes flashed in his direction. Malfoy was a Death Eater—Harry had clearly seen him in the graveyard in June—and therefore probably knew about Voldemort's plan to kill him with the two vampires he was with. Seeing him alive would ruin their entire plan of allowing Voldemort and Aubrey to believe that he was dead.

Then he realized that he'd been in the papers for the past couple weeks as well as at the Ministry where Mr Malfoy could have easily seen him, and therefore the plan was as good as dead anyway.

Lucius allowed a faint smirk to cross his lips. "Well, well, Mr Potter...You _have_ been busy, haven't you?"

Harry's eyes narrowed. "What's it to you?"

"Now, now, Potter, if you're not careful, I might have to hand you over to my lord," Lucius said softly. "I'm quite sure the shopkeeper would hardly mind."

Harry frowned slightly. "_Might_? You're not just going to do it?"

Lucius smiled faintly and turned his icy gaze on Sudi. "How are you this evening, Sudi?"

"Well, thank you, Lucius," Sudi answered with a return smile. Harry felt a wave of confusion and a stab of jealousy, though he couldn't tell of whom he was jealous.

"What do you need, Harry?" Hamal asked before Harry could say anything about the odd behaviour. Harry frowned but walked up to the counter to tell the shopkeeper what he needed.

He was immensely confused when he turned back while the shopkeeper was off collecting what he wanted and saw the three men talking like old friends. Not only that, but Mr Malfoy and Sudi were standing much closer together than what was usually proper and Hamal seemed to find nothing wrong with it.

_What is going on?_ he demanded mentally of both older vampires.

Sudi looked around in surprise, then his eyes widened and he looked a little embarrassed. Hamal simply rolled his eyes and turned his attention back on Lucius.

"Lucius is a friend of mine," Sudi answered hesitantly. "Hamal only tolerates him because of that."

"I don't think your brother truly minds me," Lucius said, sounding slightly amused, "or I would have been ripped to pieces long ago."

"But I will have nothing to do with his Death Eater ways," Sudi added with a shudder as though Lucius had never spoken. "And thankfully, he has never allowed Voldemort more than a glimpse of me in his thoughts."

"I don't trust him," Harry muttered, glaring at Lucius.

Lucius smirked at him. "You would do well to keep thinking that way, Potter. I enjoy your Sires' company, not yours."

Lucius' expression changed slightly and his eyes roved briefly over Harry. "I do, however, know someone who will enjoy your company far more, young Vampire, or I would turn you over to my lord without a second thought."

He turned to Sudi and bowed very slightly. "It was a pleasure seeing you again, _merwet_. Perhaps we'll meet again on the first?"

"We will see, _imasei_," Sudi answered. He pulled a black feather out of his pocket and held it out to Lucius. "Your old quill must be broken by now."

"It is. My thanks." Lucius took the feather and left with hardly a backward glance.

"Are we leaving now, Father?" asked a drawling voice outside. Harry whipped his head around just in time to see a familiar grey eye before the door closed behind Mr Malfoy. He gasped as a wave of fire passed through him. He felt something hard collide with his knees and heard three separate voices call his name. Then everything went black.

* * *

"—idiot! What did you think you were doing?" 

The yell broke through the blackness and drew Harry slowly back to consciousness. He almost frowned as it replayed in his head; the voice had not sounded familiar.

"We were getting school supplies," Hamal's voice answered.

"You should know better than to bring a fledgling _Dyad_ in contact with the Malfoys!" exclaimed the stranger. "You are lucky he did not collapse on sight of Lucius!"

Harry opened his eyes and looked around. He was lying on his bed in the room he shared with his Sires. It was dark except for a shaft of light from the hall, only allowed in because the door was open a crack. He could only assume Hamal and the stranger were standing outside the door, unaware that it was still open.

"Lucius already has a mate," Hamal's voice said coldly. "He's no danger to us unless we let him."

"Yet his son does not," the stranger retorted. "And Draco is the same age as Harry so he will be coming into his power this year as well!"

"Harry is awake," said another voice—Sudi's.

Immediately the atmosphere outside the room shifted and the door flew open as Hamal rushed into the room, Sudi and the stranger following more sedately. For that first instant, Hamal seemed far more concerned than Harry had ever believed he could be; then, as if to make up for his show of emotion, Hamal suddenly crossed his arms and scowled at the other two.

"He's fine."

"You are lucky," the stranger repeated, glaring back. He moved to kneel next to Harry's bed, eyes shining with concern. "How are you feeling?"

"F-fine," Harry said. He could feel the fury radiating off this man and could hardly tell to whom it was directed.

"You are not aching anywhere? Did you have any dreams?"

"No, neither," Harry said.

The man smiled in relief and stood again. Then he rounded on Hamal, instantly furious again.

"You are lucky," he said a third time. "This could have been much worse. And I should have known about Harry as soon as you Turned him instead of having to read about it in the wizarding paper!"

"We've been busy," Hamal protested, though he was clearly starting to cower a little. "_You_'ve been busy."

"Yes, taking care of Kissa, who was returned safely, but has been missing her brothers for the past two weeks because you've both been here!"

The two brothers paled at that, and Sudi almost immediately excused himself and headed out the door. This only seemed to incense the stranger further.

"You didn't even realize!" the man exclaimed incredulously. Hamal almost flinched. Harry was amazed; he had never believed Hamal could be afraid of anyone.

"Now, Minkah, you have to understand—" Hamal started, but Harry heard no more of it. Everything clicked into place. Of course, he could easily believe Hamal could act this way if he were afraid of upsetting his...mate and knew he already had. And Harry could now understand why this man had been so concerned about him in the first place; they were both _Dyad_, so he would know what should and shouldn't happen. Clearly, something had happened that should not have.

Harry finally took the opportunity to study the man. He certainly looked like he came from the same place as Hamal and Sudi, though his dark hair was much longer than Sudi's, reaching halfway down his back and tied back in a ponytail, though the tie seemed to have slipped down his back a fair way. His clothes were pure white and looked like what Harry had seen in pictures of the Middle East—flowing and robe-like, with lots of material. Yet he had a Japanese sword sticking into his belt and a white and black fan in his hand. Harry wasn't sure what to make of him.

The man suddenly turned and smiled awkwardly at Harry, his previous anger seeming to drain away from him. "Forgive me, I have not yet introduced myself. My name is Minkah Astennu. I am Hamal's fledgling and mate."

"It's nice to meet you," Harry said, pushing himself to a sitting position. Immediately, he staggered as the world seemed to spin under him. Minkah frowned in concern and gently pushed him back down.

'I am not so sure you are ready for that yet," he said. "You should not even be awake after what happened."

"What did happen?" Harry asked. All he could remember was seeing a glimpse of Draco Malfoy as Lucius left the shop and then, nothing.

"You came in contact with a potential mate far too early," Minkah explained, sending Hamal a brief heated glance.

Harry paled. "You mean Malfoy's a magical creature?"

Minkah nodded. "The Malfoys have always been famous in the non-human world for being part Veela. That is what gives them their colouring, as well as their uncanny ability to get close to figures of power."

Harry covered his face in his hands. "That must be what Mr Malfoy was talking about. Malfoy's going to be interested in me."

"You make it sound like a bad thing," Minkah said, sounding amazed. "You should be happy you already know of a potential mate."

"Malfoy and I hate each other," Harry protested. "At least, I know I hate him. He might not feel the same anymore because of this..."

Minkah gave him a faint smile as he stood up. "I am sure he will not be the only one at Hogwarts. You should try to get some rest; today has been very stressful."

Harry made a face. "I'm going to have nightmares now. And I thought my fears of having to kiss _Snape_ were bad..."

Minkah chuckled softly before turning to face Hamal again, his mood shifting instantly. "You, out. I am not yet done with you."

Had Harry not seen Hamal's behaviour around Minkah earlier, he would have been amazed at the speed with which the ancient vampire left the room and how little he complained while he went. Minkah gave Harry a faint smile as he followed. As Minkah left the room, Harry noticed he made sure to close the door completely.

Harry sighed as he rolled over onto his side. Minkah was right; he needed rest. He felt physically exhausted and emotionally drained. Still, the last thing he wanted to see in his mind's eye before falling asleep was the stormy grey eye that had landed him here in the first place.

* * *

Though Harry was fully recovered three days after the incident, he began withdrawing from the others more than ever before. Rarely, if ever, did he go anywhere in the house but the front-hall, the staircase, the bathroom, and his own room. He expertly avoided the human occupants of the house, choosing to either read in his room by himself or stay in the company of Minkah and Hamal. The longest conversation he could remember having with anyone human was one with Hermione a day after the "Malfoy incident" about the fact that the newly hired Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher had been at his hearing and had been forced upon them by Fudge. 

However, he would have been lying if he said he was not curious about the affects his Allure would have on others when it appeared. So he had been paying attention to the moon every night when he Fed, and it was with an anxious anticipation that he went to bed the morning of the new moon.

When he woke that night, he knew he felt...different. At first, he could not tell how exactly, but he realized he felt more alive, more the way he thought he should feel. Some weight he had not even known was there had been lifted from his shoulders. It took another moment to realize that he did not feel nearly as hungry as he usually did just after waking. That in itself was a huge relief. For the first time, it felt right to be a Vampire.

After a brief glance at Hamal's bed to see if the other two Vampires were awake yet, which they were, he quickly got dressed and headed down to the dining room to see if that was where the human denizens of the house were.

As soon as he entered the kitchen, even before he could see who was there, he felt a rush of warm wind pass over him. Coupled with it were multiple smells: something very sweet and alluring, something he identified as blood, something that smelled of bloodlust very different from his own. But before he could react to any of it, something flew into his arms and nearly knocked him off his feet.

"Oh, Harry! We've been so worried! No one's really seen you for days, so we thought you'd left, only Ron swears he saw you wandering around yesterday, but nobody else has seen you, and you've had us so worried!"

Harry smiled a little guiltily as he gently pried Hermione off. "Sorry. I needed to be alone for a while to deal with a few things, but I'm fine now. You'll see more of me in the next few days, promise."

"We'd better," Hermione warned, though she was fighting not to smile, "or I'll drag you out of hiding myself."

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea, Hermione," said Ron's voice, sounding extremely apprehensive.

Harry looked up at the voice, frowning slightly. Sitting at the table were Ron, Sirius, Lupin, the twins, Snape, and Sudi. To his surprise, Sudi and Lupin were sitting together, and had clearly been having an almost amicable conversation. Snape and Sirius were scowling at each other as usual, but at least they weren't fighting like the last two times Snape had been by for an Order meeting. The twins were looking at him in confusion, as though they had expected to see someone else, but it was Ron's expression that startled him the most. His best friend, whom he was now very sorry to have ignored for the past few weeks, was staring at him with unveiled fear.

Harry's eyes scanned the table again before settling back on Ron. None of them had reacted the way he had thought they would.

"Come sit down, Harry," Hermione said, tugging him over to the table. "You don't need to stand in the doorway."

Harry took the seat next to Ron, frowning when the red-head visibly flinched away from him. Hermione hardly seemed to notice anything as she sat on his other side.

"What is it?" Harry asked Ron, a little annoyed by this show of fear.

Suddenly, nothing seemed wrong and Ron grinned at him. "Sorry, Harry. I guess I was afraid of what your Allure would do. But it hasn't done anything, so it's okay."

"Okay," Harry said, though he was sure Ron was lying. What could have happened to scare Ron so much when up until now, the red-head had been just fine with his condition?

"What's up with that anyway, Harry?" Fred asked suddenly.

"Yeah, we thought your Allure was supposed to do something," George added, sounding far too disappointed.

"Not that we wanted it to do anything to us—"

"—But we wanted to see _something_ happen."

Sudi chuckled softly; Harry was suddenly struck breathless by the gorgeous sound.

"Believe me, Harry's Allure is definitely working," Sudi said, smiling faintly at the twins. "If you cannot feel it, you must already be attracted to someone else."

Harry shook himself of the slight stupor Sudi's voice had induced in him and looked at him in curious horror. "Can you feel it?"

Sudi nodded. "It is a very interesting feeling. I know how to block its effects, however."

Harry paled. "So, are you...?"

Sudi chuckled again. "Oh, no. I'm far too old for you. You'll know when you find one. You'll probably be able to seek them out as soon as you step on the school train."

"Speaking of school," Snape interrupted. Harry started; he had almost forgotten the man was there.

Snape stood and walked over to Harry, who stood as well out of instinct. The man silently reached into a pocket and pulled out a small clinking bag. Harry took it with a little awe; he had an idea of what was in the bag, and he had not thought Snape would actually make it for him.

"That contains your first week's dose of potion," Snape said, clearly still unhappy that he had been asked to make it. "There are three potions you will have to drink every morning. The first will keep you awake, as you already know. The second will eliminate most of the sun's effects on you, although," he added, suddenly looking a little more pleased, "it will still uncomfortable. That potion is yellow. The third will reduce your need to Feed while the Headmaster finds donors for you."

"Thank you, sir," Harry said, truly grateful. He could understand now why Lupin no longer hated Snape; he was now in much the same position, and had to admit that he was extremely thankful Snape had agreed to make these potions for him.

"I will know if you have not taken them," Snape said darkly. "Though I am sure even you would not be so stupid as to do that."

"No, sir," Harry said.

Snape scowled, clearly growing more annoyed by Harry's sincerity and lack of hostility. To Harry's surprise, he turned to nod a goodbye to Sudi before sweeping out of the room.

Harry sat back down and pocketed the bag, much to Ron's dismay.

"You're actually keeping it?" Ron asked incredulously. "You trust _Snape_?"

"Yes," Harry said, a little surprised himself at the truthfulness of the statement. "Snape already made me one of these potions once for the hearing, and that was okay. Beside, he wouldn't do anything while Dumbledore's watching him."

Harry smiled over at Lupin, who looked amazed. "And Remus trusts him, so that's good enough for me."

Lupin gave him a faint smile back, and Harry felt another weight lift. He and Lupin were not going to find it easy to get over their new blood-rivalry, but they would not let that keep them apart.

Sirius suddenly stood. Harry stared at him a little apprehensively; his godfather had a very determined look on his face.

"Harry, could I talk to you out in the hall?" Sirius said, taking a step in that direction.

"Okay," Harry said. He stood and headed out into the hall, highly aware of Sirius's presence behind him.

He paused once he was sure they would not be overheard and turned around to face his godfather. He suddenly felt extremely guilty; if there was one person he had truly hurt by hiding himself away for the past month, it was Sirius.

"Look, Harry," Sirius started, his tone only making Harry feel more guilty, "I know you've been through a lot, so—"

"I know, and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have ignored you," Harry interrupted, but he was startled when Sirius shook his head.

"You don't have to apologize; I can't blame you for that. You've been through I lot; I probably wouldn't have reacted any differently had it been me." Sirius shrugged, looking a little uncomfortable. "What I wanted to say was that I don't blame you, but I'm still here for you. If you want to talk to me or anything, I'm here."

Harry stared at his godfather for a moment, feeling another weight vanish. He suddenly leapt forward and hugged Sirius tightly. Sirius wrapped his arms around Harry after a moment, though he was still clearly tense.

"Thanks Sirius," Harry murmured, grinning up at his godfather's handsome face. "And I'll try not to be sure a recluse for the next couple days.

"Don't worry about it, Harry," Sirius said, grinning back down at him. "Just remember, I'll always be here for you, no matter what."

* * *

It was with a fair amount of dread that Harry stepped onto platform nine and three-quarters and faced the bustling crowd there a few days later. He was sure he was not the only one either; he had been woken by a rather heated argument early that morning between Hamal and Mrs Weasley. 

"_He'll be fine if I go with him—" Hamal growled impatiently only to be interrupted by Mrs Weasley._

"_I won't leave him with only one person—"_

"_Ah, so you don't trust me? I should have known."_

_Silence. Then: "You can't even go out in sunlight. How are you supposed to take him?" Then a strangled gasp. "How did you get that? That's Harry's!"_

"_It's mine. I made it for myself, just as I would be making it for my Childe if Dumbledore would allow it, but of course, Dumbledore doesn't trust me either."_

"_I should think not with the track record you have—"_

"_I'll be taking him," Hamal interrupted with finality. "He's my Childe; you have no authority over him anymore. I will take him today, and you're welcome to come with, if you so distrust me. Your children have to come anyway, I believe."_

"_I won't allow it—"_

"_I'd like to see you stop me. Should be amusing." He heard Hamal stalk past the door, then turn back. "You might as well get ready if you're awake, Harry." Then Hamal left and stomped down the stairs. Mrs Weasley followed after another minute._

So here he was, in the presence of only the Weasleys, Hermione, and Hamal. Moody had relented to allowing it after much less time than Harry had thought it would take; apparently, Hamal had proved he was capable of defending the lot of them if it was needed. Still, Harry could feel the tense atmosphere between the two adults and it only added to his own apprehension.

It may have been his imagination, but the volume of the platform seemed to decrease as he took a few steps forward. He could feel numerous eyes on him and wished, not for the first time, that he was just a normal boy with normal problems.

Then he felt Hamal's hand grasp his shoulder and he kept going, finding a good deal of strength in the small gesture.

At least he was now able to control his senses so the shear amount of people did not overwhelm him. Minkah had trained him over the past couple days to block out most of his heightened senses as well as the effect magical creatures seemed to have on him. He could not block his Allure, unfortunately, but Minkah had said that as soon as someone started courting him, the effect would diminish. Harry had a feeling that with Malfoy around, he would not have to worry about his Allure very much.

"Well, I suppose this is it," Mrs Weasley said bracingly. She began hugging them at random, though Harry was not sure it was very random when she got him twice. "Write...behave yourselves—I mean it, Fred—and you, George—and look after yourselves and each other..."

"I'd like to talk to you alone Harry," Hamal interjected. Harry nodded and walked with him a short distance away, both of them ignoring the fierce glare Mrs Weasley sent at the older Vampire.

"Minkah and I are going to be renting a room in Hogsmeade," Hamal said before Harry could speak. "So if you need anything, we'll be right there."

Harry stared at him, a little amazed. "Really?"

"Yes. Sudi mentioned something about joining us, but I can't be sure. Anyway, we'll be around. And also—" Hamal glanced around a lowered his voice— "as a Vampire, you can Apparate on Hogwarts grounds, so if you're ever in trouble, don't waste time by running. Got that?"

Harry nodded once, still awed. Hamal was turning out to be a very confusing person.

"Anyway, you'd better get going. The train's going to leave any minute now," Hamal said, ushering Harry back toward his friends.

"Yeah. Thanks. I'll visit you," Harry promised. He gave Hamal a brief smile before heading back to the Weasleys.

"And Harry?"

"Yeah?" Harry said, turning back to his Sire.

Hamal shrugged awkwardly, looking quite uncomfortable. "I'm sorry for everything you've gone through because of me. I hate when innocents get mixed up in my affairs."

Harry shook his head with a faint smile; Hamal was a _really_ confusing person. "It's fine. I don't blame you, and I don't think anyone else does either. I'll see you at school."

"Hurry up, Harry!" Ron called; he and the others were already on the train. The warning whistle blew. Harry hurried to join them, waving a brief goodbye to Mrs Weasley as he passed.

As soon as he stepped on the train, he froze. The feeling was dull but clearly there; multiple possible mates were on the train. He could not tell how many or where they were without unblocking the rest of his senses, but it was enough to know that Malfoy was not the only one. He let out a deep breath. Thank Merlin; Malfoy was not the only one.

"C'mon, Harry, I don't want to be late for the prefect meeting," Hermione said, grabbing his wrist to pull him along. Harry sent Ron an apologetic look as he was dragged off toward the front of the train.

The presence of the other part-humans only seemed to increase as Harry was dragged along until it seemed almost oppressive as he and Hermione stood outside the prefect compartment. Hermione, of course, could not feel it, but Harry was certain at least three possible mates were behind the door. He suddenly felt like he was eleven again on his first ride to school, unsure of what was to come and a little scared because of it. He already knew Malfoy was probably there, but who else could it be?

"I'm sorry if we're late," Hermione said as she opened the door.

"It's all right; you're not even the last ones to arrive," said a very familiar voice from inside. "Come in, there's plenty of room."

Hermione moved out of the doorway to sit down, leaving Harry a clear view of the compartment. Almost immediately, his gaze caught on a pair of sharp grey eyes and he nearly felt his world reel like the last time he'd seen them.

Malfoy smirked and held a hand out to Harry. "You heard Diggory, Potter; I'm sure you're not deaf. Get out of the doorway. In fact, there's a seat next to mine that seems rather empty; why don't you sit there?"

On Malfoy's other side, Pansy Parkinson looked aghast at the idea. She leaned over to whisper something in his ear, to which he snapped something that made her look quite offended but shut up nonetheless. With another smirk, Malfoy looked back up at Harry, who had yet to move.

"Well, Potter? There's really nowhere else to sit."

A quick glance around the room proved this statement to be true. With a good deal of apprehension, Harry walked over and sat down in the empty seat next to Malfoy. The feeling of other powerful blood increased tenfold, though he had a feeling a lot of that was because Malfoy was not-so-sneakily staring at him.

"I'll bet you planned this," Harry hissed, glaring at the blond next to him.

Malfoy shrugged, the haughty smirk never leaving his face. "Maybe you're reading too far into things, Potter."

Harry sent him another glare before turning away, determined to ignore the Slytherin for the rest of the meeting. Of course, Malfoy was not going to let him get away with that.

"I want to talk with you after the meeting, _Dyad_," Malfoy whispered in his ear and Harry felt his breath catch; for a git, Malfoy had a very nice voice.

"What if I don't want to talk to you, _Veela_?" Harry countered as Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbot stepped into the compartment, the last two to arrive.

"I'm not giving you a choice. You'll either talk to me in private or in front of your friends. I'm sure you don't want Weasley to think you're a poof now, do you?"

Harry clenched his fists, his eyes boring holes in the ground. He may not have any choice in that matter. "Fine, but you'd better not try anything, or what happened on the train last year will seem like nothing."

Malfoy simply smirked again and leaned back in his seat, clearly satisfied.

Someone cleared their throat to get their attention. Harry looked up to see Cedric Diggory and a very pretty Slytherin girl getting to their feet. He smiled to him; Cedric must have been promoted to Head Boy. Harry could think of no one else who better deserved the position.

Cedric clearly his throat again, looking a little hesitant. "All right, well, the Head Boy last year started with a great speech about what it meant to be a prefect and the hardships and whatnot, but I'm really not that good at that sort of thing. So all I can say is congratulations to the new prefects and good luck to everyone."

"You probably all know what you're supposed to do as prefects," the girl next to him said, her voice much deeper than Harry had expected. "Either you already know or it was outlined in the letters you received. So I should really only need to remind you that we have to patrol the corridors every now and then today, to make sure everyone is behaving."

"We also have to patrol the halls at school," Cedric went on. "We'll be meeting once a month in the prefect bathroom to decide schedules. The bathroom is behind the fourth door to the left of the statue of Boris the Bewildered on the fifth floor. This year's password is 'moonbeam.' It probably won't change. The password to your respective Houses should have been included in your letters."

Cedric and the girl were silent for a moment before she spoke, her voice soft but with a lilt of urgency. "This year we also have the pleasure of having two Vampires here at school. One is Angelo Haemon, a seventh year Slytherin. He and Kiran—" she gestured at a tall blond boy sitting in a corner of the compartment— "are allowed to be out at night past curfew. Also, if you encounter them duelling in the halls, you are not to stop them, but to make sure no other students get in harm's way."

So Harry now knew the identities of two of his possible mates: Malfoy and this Angelo person. He still could not help but feel a little depressed, however; they were both male Slytherins.

"The other Vampire is Harry Potter," Cedric continued, gesturing at Harry, "as I'm sure most of you know from the _Prophet_ over the summer. Harry is also allowed out past curfew, and as he's newly Turned, most of his behaviour will be excusable."

Harry shifted in his seat. It was very uncomfortable to be talked about as though he were an animal.

"Both Potter and Angelo will need donors this year," the girl added. "The adult prefects are usually asked first, because we know what's going on, but the Heads will be having a meeting with everyone of age tonight to discuss this."

"Are you going to be one this year, Dominique?" Kiran asked from the corner.

The girl, Dominique, shook his head. "I would, but Cassius has forbidden it. I think the twins will be, though."

Several laughs could be heard when Kiran made a face. "Great, just what I need."

"Anyway," Cedric interrupted, though he was smiling as well, "Harry and Angelo aren't allowed to Feed on anyone, even their donors, other than during the specified times and certainly not in the halls. They're to be reported to the Headmaster if they do, although I know Angelo tends to get away with bending that rule a lot." Cedric sent Kiran a mild glare that was deftly ignored.

"Angelo's an okay bloke, though," said a boy whom Harry vaguely recognized as Bradley, a Ravenclaw Chaser. "He never puts anyone in danger."

"Not like Kiran would let him anyway," agreed the girl sitting next to him.

"He still needs to be reported," Cedric said, though it was clear he agreed with them as well.

"Of course, if you just happened to trip and fall and not see it happening, you wouldn't have anything to report," Dominique said with a faint smile.

Harry laughed along with the rest of the compartment, though when he glanced over at Hermione, she had a divided expression like she couldn't decided whether to laugh as well or to scold them.

"When do we find out who are donors are?" Harry asked cautiously, still a little uncomfortable with identifying himself as a Vampire.

Cedric gave him an encouraging smile. "Probably this week. Dumbledore should send you a note to let you know."

Harry smiled back, only vaguely noticing Draco shift in his side beside him. "Okay. Thanks."

Cedric nodded and turned back to the rest of the group. "I think that's it. Remember, we all have to take turns patrolling the train, but other than that, you've got the rest of the train ride to yourselves."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief and stood along with most of the other prefects. The room was soon filled with numerous voices, all of them laid-back and friendly. He smiled as he watched Kiran walk up to Cedric and Dominique and begin chatting with them; the three of them were clearly old friends.

The meeting had not been so bad, he mused. He had half-expected a stuffy atmosphere with list of rules they would have to uphold and follow delivered by a Percy-duplicate. He was glad it was over, anyway; this type of thing was right up Hermione's alley, but certainly not his. Maybe if he hurried, he could make it to Ron's compartment before the food trolley passed it by.

His breath hitched when a hand grabbed his wrist, the touch like fire on his skin, halting his progress toward the door. He turned the find Malfoy staring back at him far too close for comfort.

"Did you forget already, Potter?" Malfoy asked, somehow looking both annoyed and frustrated at once.

Harry scowled and wrenched his arm from Malfoy's grip. "No, of course not, why would I want to forget something so important?" he said, rolling his eyes. Truthfully, he had forgotten his promise to Malfoy, but the Slytherin did not need to know that.

Malfoy scowled back at him, clearly unappreciative of his sarcasm.

"Well, Malfoy?" Harry said, enjoying riling his rival though he knew it was going to bite him in the arse later. "This was your idea. What do you want?"

Malfoy eyed him for a moment, then turned and heading for the door. "Follow me."

Harry reluctantly followed him out the door, if only to keep Malfoy from saying...whatever he was going to say in front of Ron and Hermione. He might trust his friends with his life and know he could share anything with them, but he did not even want to know that Malfoy was a possible mate himself.

Malfoy led him almost down the full length of the train before he turned into an empty compartment. As soon as Harry stepped inside after him, Malfoy shut the door and pulled out his wand to lock and ward it. Harry smirked inwardly; so he wasn't the only one who wanted to keep this secret from their classmates.

"Paranoid much, Malfoy?" Harry said as he sat down.

"You're not the only one who has a reputation to uphold," Malfoy sneered. He turned and leaned against the door, regarding Harry coolly.

"What reputation? Your father likes me just fine; isn't that good enough for your Housemates?"

"For one, Potter, my father does not like you," Malfoy said. "He likes Chancellor Kafele. I'm the one that likes you." He continued on as though he hadn't just made hell freeze over, "Two, what would make you think anyone knows my father and I are part-Veela? Purebloods aren't part anything, you know."

Harry stared at him, his mind still caught on the first bit. "You _what_?"

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "I like you, Potter. But that's something else I'm not about to flaunt, isn't it?"

Harry stared at him, unable to get his head around the revelation.

Malfoy smirked. "Of course, part of it is your Allure. I can't deny that I'd love to ravish you senseless right now because of that."

Harry blushed and looked away. Part of him, definitely the vampire part, rather liked that idea, but he was not about to let Malfoy know that.

"But you don't know how excited I was when I read about your trial and found out you were Turned," Malfoy continued, his voice a little more subdued now. "I knew what it meant, of course. And the fact that you knew Chancellor Kafele just made it better."

Harry realized distantly that Malfoy was probably being more honest with him now than he had in the entirety of their time at Hogwarts...although, if he though about it, Malfoy was one of the few people who had ever been really honest with him, along with Snape and the Weasley twins.

That definitely did not make him feel better, though. That would only mean Malfoy would try harder to be his mate.

"I don't know what to tell you, Malfoy," Harry said after a moment of silence. "I think the only time I even remotely liked you was when we met in Madam Malkin's."

Malfoy sneered at him. "I know that."

"Then I don't know what you want. My being a _Dyad_ isn't going to change anything."

Harry did not see Malfoy move. One moment, he was leaning against the door, and the next, he was in Harry's lap pressing him back against the seat.

"I want _you_," Malfoy hissed in his ear, sending an involuntary shiver down his spine. "And you will be mine. I won't let anyone else take you. I'm going to make you fall for me if it's the last thing I do."

"And what if," Harry murmured back, "I already have my eye on someone?"

"Then they're going to wish they'd never been born," Malfoy growled. "You're mine, Potter."

He pressed a swift, hard kiss to Harry's lips that left Harry reeling and definitely wanting more despite the fact that he was not attracted to boys and hated Malfoy anyway. Then Malfoy's weight was gone and the door to the compartment was being slammed shut.

Harry shakily stood. He felt as though he had lost control of his life completely, and he did not like it. He felt his fingers touch his lips. And he did not like Malfoy, not at all.

_But you liked what he just did_ a traitorous voice whispered in the back of his mind. Harry ignored it.

He moved to open the door, thinking to look for Ron and Hermione, but before he could touch it, it slid open to reveal a very harassed-looking Cedric. Cedric smiled in relief when he saw Harry, and he quickly stepped into the compartment, shutting the door behind him.

"I've been looking for you," he said. Harry didn't fail to notice the wand behind his back that flicked toward the door before he sat down.

Nevertheless, Harry felt much more comfortable in Cedric's presence than Malfoy's, so he gladly sat down next to the Hufflepuff.

"Sorry, Malfoy dragged me off to deliver declarations of love," Harry said, rolling his eyes. "I guess even a Slytherin isn't impervious to my Allure."

Cedric knew about his Allure, thankfully. Cedric knew about everything that had gone on that summer, in fact. As soon as Harry had gotten his head together near the end of the summer, he had written a novel saying how sorry he was for forgetting to write and everything that had happened since he last had.

But rather than laugh, like Harry thought he would, Cedric only smiled.

"No, I suppose not," he said. Harry was startled at the thoughtful tone of voice.

"So, uh, how was your summer?" Harry asked, feeling quite a bit more uncomfortable now. "Probably a lot quieter than mine..."

"Yeah, a bit." Cedric took in a deep breath and turned to face Harry more directly. Harry felt his chest contract again as he looked up into Cedric's eyes. He had never noticed how deep they were before.

"I know you probably don't want to hear any more 'declarations of love,' as you put it," Cedric said softly, "but I also know that most _Dyad_ don't last long without them. So I hope you'll accept mine."

Harry gaped at him in shock. Even when he'd been around Malfoy, he'd felt something that indicated he was part-human; he hadn't felt anything coming from Cedric. Nor did Cedric look like he was anything but human; he just did not have the air about him that the other creature Harry had met had.

Cedric grinned, obviously aware of what Harry was thinking. "I know it's a surprise, but I am part-human. It's not much, though. My family's been human for at least the past five generations. But it's enough that I can tell what you and Malfoy and the others are, so it should be enough to court you."

Harry only nodded silently; he had no idea, but it probably was.

"That is, if you want me to," Cedric added, suddenly fidgeting a little. "I don't want to force you into anything you don't want. I know how unsettling this must be for you. It's a little unsettling for me, even."

"I'd rather it be you than Malfoy," Harry said with a slight grin.

Cedric laughed. "Me too."

Harry nodded and looked away at the door. "I don't know. To tell you the truth, I'm feeling really overwhelmed by all this. At least you're giving me a choice."

"I understand." Cedric placed a light hand on his shoulder. "Why don't you go find your friends? You can think about it for as long as you like."

Harry gave him a thankful smile as he stood. "Thanks. See you at dinner?"

"Sounds good," Cedric said with a grin.

Harry returned the grin before sliding open the door and stepping out of the compartment. Although it was still very odd to him, he was very glad Cedric was a potential mate. At least he already liked Cedric as a person, unlike Malfoy.

He did not have to wander very far to find his friends' compartment. They had ended up with the last compartment in the carriage, only four down from the one he had come out of. He sighed in relief as he stepped inside and sank into the seat next to Ron.

"Where've you been, mate?" Ron asked as Harry grabbed for a chocolate frog.

"Malfoy dragged me off," Harry said with a shrug. "Then I ran into Cedric. He's been made Head Boy, did you know?"

"Yeah, Hermione mentioned it."

"Cedric Diggory is a very interesting person," said a dreamy voice.

Harry looked up in surprise; he had not taken the time to see whom else besides Ron and Hermione was in the carriage. Ginny was there, looking as though she was trying not to laugh, as was Neville, who was holding something that looked like a small cactus with boils instead of spines. And sitting in the corner with an upside-down magazine in her hands with a blond girl Harry didn't know.

"He tried to help me find a date to the Yule Ball last year," the girl went on in her dreamy voice. "So did my friend Angelo. They're both very nice for seventh years. I never did get a date, but I didn't really mind," she added thoughtfully. "I don't like dancing very much."

She smiled at Harry and disappeared behind her magazine, _The Quibbler_. Harry stared at it for a moment before turning to the others to see if they would have an explanation. Ginny was clearly giggling behind her hand, and Neville and Ron looked just as bewildered as Harry, but Hermione just smiled.

"Harry, this is Luna Lovegood. She's in Ginny's year."

"It's nice to meet you," Harry said to the magazine.

Luna might have nodded behind it, but Harry couldn't tell for sure.

"Anyway, Harry, Malfoy's probably just sore that he couldn't beat you again," Ron said, clapping him on the back. "Nothing to worry about. We'll show him that he's a slimy good-for-nothing again this year."

Harry nodded, but the words really did not make him feel any better. He wished he could tell Ron what was really going on, but he was sure the redhead would not take the news that Malfoy wanted him very well. At least he had Cedric as a friend now; that made his life seem a lot easier.

* * *

AN: So, I mentioned on another site that I wasn't going to put Angelo and Kiran from _Background Secrets_ and _Century Child _in this...but you know what? An Angelo-Harry scene was just too tempting. So now it's official--I've got three fics that are all completely interconnected. They're are practically AUs of each other. Makes me feel a little sorry for _Sound of Silence_; that's the only one that has nothing to do with the others. 


	5. CH 4: Restrictions and Rituals

AN: So...I've actually had the second half of this written for about six months...yeah, I'm that evil. I really just didn't want to bother with retyping the parts of OotP that had to be retyped, so I've been slacking off on it. But hey, I got inspired, so you can have the chapter now.

Disclaimer: The first half of this is almost straight out of the book. I've changed enough that it is important to read it again, but it will be very, very similar to JKR's original work. I don't own it.

Warning: As of posting this, I have not edited this. There will most likely be typos. Be patient with me; I'll fix them in the next couple days.

Also, pay attention to wording. Wording is extremely important in a few places. It lets me do things later on...

* * *

**A Modern Myth**

**Chapter IV: Restrictions and Rituals**

Harry looked around nervously as he and Hermione stepped off the train; they had to help supervise the rest of the students making their way off the train. He glanced around nervously for Malfoy and Cedric, since the two would also be helping, but it seemed they were going to leave him alone. He wasn't sorry about Malfoy, but he would have liked to talk with Cedric again.

"First years over here, please! All first years, gather around me!"

Harry turned, startled, at Professor McGonagall's crisp voice. Sure enough, the lantern usually held by Hagrid was now waving about at a more reasonable height.

"Where's Hagrid?" Hermione murmured beside him.

"Maybe he's sick?" he said, distractedly glancing back at Professor McGonagall. A large group of first years had gathered around her. Harry hoped it was all of them. "C'mon, let's go grab a carriage before Malfoy decides to ambush me."

Ron, Ginny, Neville, and Luna were waiting for them by the carriages. Harry glanced at them, glanced back around for Malfoy, and did a double take.

The carriages no longer pulled themselves. Two horses were hitched to the front of each carriage—well, if one could call them horses. They were unlike any horses he had ever seen. They were distinctly reptilian and skeletal at once, with huge, leathery wings and staring, white eyes. The one closest to him turned it head to look at him, but otherwise, they seemed like grotesque statues. He took a couple cautious steps toward it; the horse snorted and stamped one of its feet.

"What is it?" he wondered aloud. He reached a hand out to pet the horse's nose. It snorted again and jerked its head away.

"What is what?" Ron asked, bewildered.

"The weird horse things pulling the carriages."

"What are you talking about?" Hermione asked. "The carriages are pulling themselves, like always."

Harry frowned and reached out again. This time, the horse let him touch its nose for a moment before jerking away. It certainly felt real.

"You're not mad or anything," said a soft voice behind him. Luna stepped around him and reached out the pet the horse's bare neck. It didn't seem to mind her. "I can see them too. They've always pulled the carriages. Don't worry. You're just as sane as I am."

She smiled at him and walked away to climb into the carriage. Not feeling very assured, Harry followed her.

"So, what do you think's up with Hagrid?" Ron asked as they started moving. Harry could not help but notice that the carriage did not seem to move as smoothly anymore.

"Well, it was McGonagall and not that Grubbly-Plank woman," Ginny said thoughtfully, "so he must still be here. Maybe he's sick."

"I hope he get's better soon," Luna said, though she seemed to barely be paying attention. "He's not a very good teacher, but he's very nice to animals."

"He's a perfectly fine teacher!" Ron snapped.

Luna only shrugged and turned her attention on the scenery outside the window.

Harry looked outside too once they passed through the gates to the school grounds to see if there were any lights on in Hagrid's cottage. The grounds were pitch dark. Harry almost sighed in disappointment.

The carriages slowed to a stop in front of the stone steps leading to the tall front doors. Harry got out of their carriage first, looking around nervously for Malfoy. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Malfoy's tell-tale blond hair already halfway up the steps to the castle. At least he wouldn't have to worry about the Veela for now.

He glanced back at the dragonish horses leading their carriage. Luna had said they had always been there, but if that was true, why could he suddenly see them and Ron and Hermione could not?

"Hey, are you coming or what?"

Harry turned to see his friends gathered at the bottom of the staircase, waiting for them. He hurried to catch up and join the crowd mounting the steps to the castle.

The four long House tables in the Great Hall were almost full once they got there, since there were among the last to enter. Luna drifted away from them at the Slytherin table, heading for the end where Kiran Erebos was sitting. Ginny left to sit with a few of her fourth year friends once they reached the Gryffindor table. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville found seats near one end of the table—the opposite end than where Malfoy was sitting at the Slytherin table so Harry could keep an eye on him.

"He's not there," Ron said next to him.

Harry turn to look at the staff table where Ron had be looking, but he only needed to glance at it to see what was wrong. Hargid wasn't there, and he was a little hard to miss.

"Maybe he isn't back from his mission yet," Hermione suggested quietly so no one around them would hear.

"Maybe..." Harry scanned down the line of teachers to the very end, where Hagrid usually sat. In his seat was a woman he had never seen before, smiling and chatting with Professor Sinistra next to her. She was not very remarkable, with auburn hair just the shade to be dull and a smattering a freckles across her nose, and Harry would never have noticed her if he hadn't been looking to see if anyone had taken Hagrid's place. Harry couldn't shake the feeling that there was something about her, though.

"Is that her?" Hermione asked, pointing at the middle of the staff table. "The woman from your hearing?"

Harry's eyes looked to where she was pointing. Sitting next to Dumbledore, opposite Professor McGonagall's seat, was the squat woman who reminded him of a pink toad. He wasn't surprised to see her. Fudge had called upon an old and nearly-forgotten law that said he could hire a new teacher if the Headmaster was having trouble filling a position. Though they had never heard the name of the person Fudge had hired, Harry had been betting it would be her, so Fudge could keep an eye on him and Dumbledore.

"That's her," Harry said. "Umbridge. She was one of the one's who didn't believe Sudi's testimony."

Hermione glanced back at the staff table again, frowning in thought. Harry opened his mouth to ask what she was thinking, but just then the doors from the entrance hall opened and a long line of terrified first-years filed in., led by Professor McGonagall. She walked up to the front of the hall and set down a three-legged stool and the Sorting Hat.

The sound in the Great Hall faded away. The first years lined up in front of the staff table, facing the hat. Most of them were staring at it in terror. Harry thought back to how he'd felt standing up there; he wondered if these first years had heard any of the same rumours he had about how they would be sorted.

The rip near the hat's brim opened wide like a mouth, and the Sorting Hat burst into song.

And Harry's head suddenly felt like it would burst open with pain. He hissed and clutched at his scar, only vaguely hearing the words of the Sorting hat or the frantic whispers of his friends. The pain only got worse as the moments passed, and a churning feeling in his stomach appeared. The pain got so bad, he was afraid he was going to pass out.

'_Harry, snap out of it. Do not allow him to draw you in. You are stronger than that.'_

Harry jerked as the pain and the foreign feeling suddenly disappeared. He glanced around; the Sorting had already started, though most of the first-years were still up front. No one but his friends, Malfoy, and Cedric seemed to have noticed anything had been wrong with him either, so unless one of them had telepathy, he couldn't place who the voice had belonged to.

"Harry, are you alright?"

Harry nodded, feeling uncomfortable with Hermione so close to him.

"I'm fine now." Harry sat up, rubbing at his scar. It still felt a little sore, but it was no more than he lived with half the time anyway.

"Was it You-Know-Who? He's not here, is he?" Ron looked up at the doors to the entrance hall nervously, as though he thought Voldemort would blast through them any second.

"I don't think he's here..." Harry frowned as he thought about what else he'd been feeling besides pain. "He was...really angry. Someone failed him, but this was a really big failure. His plans have been set back months."

Ron and Hermione stared at him in surprise. He didn't blame them; he was surprised himself. The words had seemed to just come to him, as through a stranger were whispering in his ear.

"How do you know that? Did you have a vision?" Hermione asked.

Harry shook his head. "Dumbledore said last year that I can tell when Voldemort's close or feeling angry. I guess it was just particularly bad this time."

"Dumbledore should probably know about this one, too, Harry," Hermione said.

Harry glanced up at the staff table. Dumbledore was watching the last first-years get sorted with genuine interest. If Harry didn't know better, he would have bet that Dumbledore hadn't even noticed what had happened.

"He probably already knows. But I'll tell him anyway," he added so Hermione would quit glaring at him.

The last first-year, "Zeller, Rose," was sorted into Hufflepuff. Professor McGonagall picked up the hat and stool and took them away as Dumbledore rose to his feet.

"To our newcomers—welcome!" Dumbledore said, arms stretched wide. "To our old hands—welcome back! There is a time for speechmaking, but this is not it. Tuck in!"

Dumbledore sat down to an outbreak of applause and hesitant laughter, though neither lasted long when food appeared on all the tables. Harry sighed and watched the rest of his House filling their plates with a bit of longing. He felt sorry for making fun of Nearly Headless Nick now that he was in a similar position.

Hermione turned to him, probably to ask him why he wasn't eating, before she seemed to realize that was a bad question to ask. "That's right, you can't eat anymore, can you?"

Harry shook his head. "Hamal said I could probably have really rare meats and black pudding if I wanted to feel nauseous, but other than that, no."

"Hey, don't feel too bad about it; Haemon can't eat either," Ron said, waving his fork vaguely at the Slytherin table. Harry looked over; one of the boys sitting next to Kiran did look rather bored and Harry could tell there was nothing on his plate. Harry wondered if he even came to meals during the rest of the year.

"Well, it gives you more time to do homework," Hermione said brightly.

Harry rolled his eyes; of course she would think that. "Great, more homework and no treacle tart. That's exactly what I wanted."

Hermione frowned, but before she could scold him, Professor McGonagall walked up behind them.

"Potter, Professor Dumbledore would like to see you in his office once the feast is over," she said. Her eyes glanced briefly at Ron and Hermione before she added, "Weasley and Granger are welcome to come as well."

"Yes, Professor."

Professor McGonagall gave him a slightly pitying look before she left, heading, not back up to the staff table, but to the Hufflepuff table to speak with Cedric.

He turned back to find Ron and Hermione giving him no-so-covet hopeful looks. He sighed; might as well spare them. "Yes, you guys can come."

Finally, when it seemed all the students had finished eating and the noise level of the Great Hall was starting to rise, Dumbledore stood up and gestured for silence.

Harry turned out for most of the speech, since it was information they already knew (and sometimes ignored, like staying out of the Forbidden Forest). He started listening again when Dumbledore mentioned something about changes in the staff.

"...I am very pleased to introduce Professor Loretta Roselyn, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons—"

The students clapped as the auburn-haired witch on the end stood briefly. She sat down again quickly, nervous and unsure of herself. Harry had no idea why she seemed so familiar; he was positive he had never seen her before.

"—as well as Professor Delores Umbridge, our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher."

The students applauded again, though it was less enthusiastic this time. Harry didn't blame them; Umbridge looked far less friendly than Roselyn.

Dumbledore continued. "Tryouts for the house Quidditch teams will take place—"

He broke off, glancing over at Umbridge. It took a moment for Harry to understand why. Umridge was so short that she was almost the same height standing as sitting down, so it wasn't immediately obvious that she had yet to sit again after her introduction. She cleared her throat with a soft, "_Hem, hem_," and looked pointedly up at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore only looked surprised for a moment before he sat down and turned his attention on her completely. The other professors were not so fast in hiding their shock. Even Roselyn seemed aghast that a fellow new staff was being so disrespectful. Harry felt a wave of hate and fear come from somewhere, but no one else seemed to have noticed it.

"Thank you, Headmaster, for those kind words of welcome," Umbridge said, giving him the faintest bow.

She gave another little throat-clearing cough and continued, "Well, it is _lovely_ to be back at Hogwarts! And to see such happy little faces looking back up at me! I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!"

Harry glanced around. He wasn't sure where Umbridge was looking, but it certainly wasn't at the same group of students he was. Not one student was smiling; in fact, most looked horrified to be addressed in such a childish way.

Professor Umbridge cleared her throat again, but when she continued, the childish edge had been taken out of her voice. This time, her tone was almost business-like—still trying to be friendly, but by someone who believed she knew best.

"The Ministry of Magic has always considered it our duty to ensure the younger generation of witches and wizards is able to have a formal, well-rounded education. The rare gifts with which you were born must be moulded and nurtured lest they result in nothing. The ancient skills and traditions unique to the Wizarding world must be passed down through the generations to keep our society strong. The magical and academic knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished, polished, and wielded by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching, whether in this school or others."

Here she paused and offered a little bow to the rest of the staff, none of whom so much as blinked back. Professor McGonagall in particular was watching her with hawk-like intensity, and Roselyn's eyebrows were narrowed in thought as she listened.

Umbrige cleared her throat for a fourth time. "Every headmaster or headmistress of Hogwarts has brought something unique to the traditions of this historic school. That is how it should be, for without progress there will be stagnation and decay. Then again, progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, for it often brings with it ideas that are harmful to our world. A balance, then, between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation, between lenience and intolerance, is required..."

Harry felt his attention slipping, though something compelled him to keep listening. Maybe it was that a bit of what she said made sense enough to disgust him. Or maybe it was that every time she said something new, she looked between him and Haemon.

"...because some changes will be for the better, whereas others will come, in time, to be recognized as errors in judgement. Meanwhile, some old sentiments will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, old-fashioned and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then into a new era of effectiveness and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs perfecting, and pinching off practices that ought to be prohibited."

She sat down. Dumbledore started clapping. The staff joined in, though most of them only for a moment. A few of the students joined in, but most were so startled by the end of the speech that they didn't have the chance to start before Dumbledore stood up again.

"Thank you very much, Professor Umbridge; that was most illuminating," he said, nodding to her. "Now, as I was saying, Quidditch tryouts will be held..."

"Yes, that certainly was illuminating," Hermione muttered, eyes fixed on Umbridge.

"You're not saying you enjoyed it?" Ron said, horrified. Harry had felt him tune out almost as soon as Umbridge had started speaking.

"I said illuminating, not enjoyable," Hermione said. She turned her gaze onto Harry. "Were _you_ listening?"

"To some of it, yeah," Harry said, thinking back to what he had actually understood of her speech. "It sounded like the Ministry's totally against any sort of progress."

Hermione nodded. "I wouldn't say _all_ progress. That way she worded it...it seemed more like they're against progress in thought and attitude."

Harry nodded, looking around the Great Hall. Cedric's brow was creased and angry, much as he tried to be listening to the rest of Dumbledore's announcements. Malfoy actually looked similar, and he glanced over while Harry was watching him. Harry quickly looked away up the table; Haemon and Erebos were whispering urgently to each other, and Haemon's form was tense and shaking with anger. A glance at the head table showed that Roselyn was equally upset.

Suddenly, students started standing up and making a great deal on noise; Dumbledore must have just dismissed them. Hermione shoot out of her seat, looking flustered.

"Harry, we have to show the first years where to go!"

"Yeah, I know." Harry stood and followed Hermione as she started down the table, calling for the first years.

A group of new students gathered between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. Most of them looked terrified; Harry didn't have to guess long at why. Their eyes glanced at him enough for him to know.

Hermione finished counting them to make sure they were all there and turned to Harry. "Shall we go?"

Harry nodded, eager to get rid of the first years as quickly as possible. He, Ron, and Hermione gestured for the first years to follow and led them out of the hall.

* * *

Once the first years had been led safely to the common room and placed in the charge of the other prefects, Harry, Ron, and Hermione turned around and headed back towards Dumbledore's office. Professor McGonagall was waiting for them in front of the stone gargoyle, which was already opening by the time they reached her. She gestured for them to go ahead and they stepped forward onto the moving staircase.

Now that they were actually here, Harry's stomach was shifting unpleasantly in his gut. He was sure the last time he had felt so nervous was right before his first Quidditch game. He had no idea what to expect. He didn't even know if he _should_ be nervous or if he was just being paranoid. He actually had no idea what the meeting was for; that was probably what unnerved him the most.

Professor McGonagall stepped in front of them and rapped on the door when they reached the top. After a couple moments, she opened the door and stepped inside. Harry exchanged a nervous look with Ron and followed her.

To his surprise, Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore were not the only ones in the room. In fact, quite a few chair were set up before Dumbledore's large desk, and most were filled. Professor McGonagall walked over to join the other Heads of House next to Dumbledore's desk. Next to them sat Cedric and Dominique, the head Boy and Girl; Erebos, the Slytherin prefect; and the boy Ron had told him was Angelo Haemon. Between the students and the teachers sat Professor Roselyn.

And from the group radiated the feeling of non-humans. Harry couldn't tell who among them were pure human and who were not, but he was sure at least half of them were not. He briefly wondered if Dumbledore had brought together all his potential mates before he remembered Malfoy, who wasn't there.

"Good evening, Harry, Ronald, Hermione. Please sit down."

They quickly took the last three chairs. Cedric flashed Harry a brief smile that he couldn't help but return. Then he looked back up at Dumbledore, who was regarding his calmly behind his glasses.

"I trust you had a pleasant trip, Harry?"

Harry wanted to mention the horses. Surely Dumbledore would know something about them and could explain why he could see them and his friends couldn't. But when he opened his mouth to ask, all that came out was, "It was great, thank you, sir."

It felt like someone had taken over and spoken for him. Ron and Hermione looked a little confused, since they both knew the trip hadn't been "great." But then he looked to his left and saw that Cedric was smiling and he suddenly understood. His vampire self didn't want him looking crazy in Cedric's or any of the other potential mate's eyes, and saying that he could see thing no one else could would be a good way of going about that.

Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling in a way that showed he knew what was going on, but he, too, said nothing about it. "Very good." He paused and swept his eyes over all of them. "Now, I have called you all here to see if we can't make your stay at Hogwarts this year a little easier."

Harry wondered suddenly if the people gathered were his donors. He shuddered at the thought of biting into Snape's neck.

"We will, of course, need to do something about donors," Dumbledore said, speaking his mind. "With only Mr Haemon here, we were never overly pressed to find a few. I do not believe this year should be very difficult—"

"I have already spoken with a few people," Haemon interrupted. Though he knew the boy was another vampire, Harry still had to force himself not to react to his voice. It was difficult; Haemon's voice seemed like it would be hard to ignore normally.

"I do not think I will have a problem this year, except, perhaps, from the Weasley matron," Haemon continued, throwing a slight smirk at Ron.

Ron scowled at him. "If you do anything to them—"

"They know what they are getting into, Weasley," Haemon said softly. "Your brothers have been my best friends since first year. So have you," he added, almost impatiently, to Erebos when the blond glared at him.

Ron opened his mouth again, but shut it when Dumbledore raised a hand.

"Thank you, Mr Weasley. As I was saying, this year it may not be difficult for Mr Haemon to find donors, as he had needed them for the past six years. I know there are a few people who have been waiting until they were old enough to help him."

Ron's expression darkened. Harry had a feeling the twins were two of those people. He wondered, with slight disgust, why anyone would wait for something like that.

"However, there are only a select number allowed to volunteer," Dumbledore continued, "and usually only half of them consider it. Obviously, we don't want either you two or the student involved to get sick. Nor can we force anyone to be a donor."

"Professor Snape made a potion for me so I won't need blood this week," Harry said, hoping like mad that would be enough. "Couldn't I just keep taking that?"

"It's not that easy, Harry," said Professor Roselyn with a faint smile. It was easier not to react this time because of his surprise; Dumbledore hired _another_ part-human?

He also wondered why she would have any idea about all this. "Why not, Professor?"

"Please, Harry, call me Loretta. I don't wish for us to be strangers. As for your question: you're young enough that you should be Feeding everyday. The blood potions will reduce that need to about once a week, but you'll get extremely sick if you go much longer than that. It is also extremely easy to get addicted to them; that is why Hamal and Sudi have been feeding together lately. Sudi is getting over an addiction, so Hamal has been making sure he doesn't relapse."

Shock couldn't touch how Harry felt after hearing all that. He was numb, staring at her.

"How do you know that?"

She smiled and her eyes flashed red, rooting him even more to his seat. "Hamal is a dear friend of mine. Not as dear as his sister, but still, we are very close."

Getting over his shock, Harry frowned slightly. Grateful though he was that there was another vampire of his kind here, he couldn't help but wonder why.

"Are you here to keep an eye on me?" he asked suspiciously, ignoring Hermione's scandalized looks that he would talk to a teacher that way.

Loretta laughed and shook her head. "No, no. I'm here to help you. Hamal doesn't need spies to keep tabs on you."

Harry wasn't sure he liked the sound of that. From Ron's expression, the red-head didn't like it either.

"I am a _dyad_, like you," Loretta said, surprising him again. "Minkah wished to be here, but he is almost as well known as your Sire, so that would have been a bad idea. I am here to help you instead."

Harry honestly couldn't say how he felt about that. He _was_ grateful to have someone to talk to when he need help, but he was also a little annoyed that they assumed he would need that help.

"I will not need to Feed as frequently this year," Haemon said softly, "and I already know who I will ask to be donors. Perhaps anyone else who volunteers could be for Harry?"

"I'll consider it," Dumbledore said. His eyes shifted back to Harry. "We are also here to discuss what restrictions must be placed on you for the rest of your time at Hogwarts."

Harry sighed and sank down in his seat. He'd known this was coming, but he didn't look forward to hearing any of it. The restrictions would probably include things like not going out at night and no flying or Quidditch. The thought made bile rise up in his throat.

Then a hand touched his shoulder and he relaxed. He glanced over to see Cedric smiling warmly at him. He couldn't help but smile back in relief.

"I know how important it is for vampires, especially your kind, to be awake and able to wander at night," Dumbledore started. "It is one reason I made you a prefect. I will allow you to wander the halls after curfew. All I ask in return is that you assist Mr Filch while you wander."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Haemon tense, but he was to thrilled to wonder about it.

"I won't be punished for being out of bed?"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "No, you will not. That does not mean you are allowed in forbidden areas, however. Those rules still apply. And I will revoke the privilege if you slip too much in your schoolwork. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir. Thank you."

"Both Mr Haemon and Mr Erebos are allowed out after curfew as well," Dumbledore said, nodding to the blond and the other vampire, "so you'll have some company, perhaps."

Erebos snorted softly. They all looked at him. He raised an eyebrow and said mildly, "I think Angelo and I have better things to do at night than wander the halls."

Haemon rolled his eyes, though the smile on his face turned prideful and clearly pleased that Erebos thought that way. Harry was sure he did not want to know the details.

Dumbledore only seemed more amused, though he quickly turned serious again. "Obviously, you will not be allowed to Feed on anyone who is not one of your donors or, as a _dyad_, a potential mate. This is not only for other students' protection but yours as well."

Harry nodded. Cedric and Dominique had explained that earlier.

"Also, Harry, I must ask you—"

Dumbledore suddenly paused and looked expectantly up at the door. A moment later, there was a soft knock on it.

"Come in," Dumbledore said.

The door opened to reveal Professor Umbridge in all her pink glory. She looked both insulted and politely confused as she took in the scene.

"Good evening, Delores," Dumbledore said mildly. "What can I do for you?"

"I am sorry to intrude, Dumbledore, but was sure the Minister informed you that I am to be included in all matters concerning this boy?" she said, gesturing to Harry. Her tone was so sickly sweet that Harry wondered if she'd ever gotten cavities from speaking.

"Ah, so he did. I must have forgotten. Please, take a seat."

"Thank you, Headmaster."

But as Umbridge conjured a chair and deliberately sat between Loretta and Professor McGonagall, Harry saw Dumbledore and McGonagall exchange a look that clearly said they had hope to leave her out. No doubt her presence would make things even more difficult.

"It is it really wise to have so many other students here, Dumbledore?" Umbridge asked as soon as she was settled.

"They each have a reason for being here; I see no reason to leave any one of them out," Dumbledore said pleasantly.

"I see. Very well, Headmaster, continue. Forgive me for interrupting."

Dumbledore nodded to her, then turned his attention back on Harry, continuing as though he had never been interrupted.

"Since we are holding you to the same standards as Mr Haemon, I must ask you not to use any wandless magic you may know while you are here. Also, though you may be able to Apparate within the school, I must ask you to refrain from doing so. Yes, even if you are late to Potions," he added when Harry glanced at Snape. "It would be unfair to the other students, especially Mr Haemon."

Harry nodded again; he wasn't terribly surprised by that restriction.

Umbridge gave a little, "_Hem, hem_." Harry saw Haemon and Loretta tense and glance at her suspiciously.

"Forgive me, Headmaster," she said with a sweet smile, "but I think that if you wish to be fair, Mr Potter should be taken off the Gryffindor Quidditch team."

Harry stared at her in horror. That was exactly what he was afraid of. After all, being a vampire supposedly gave him faster reflexes and better eyesight, although he wasn't sure he'd experienced either one yet.

Dumbledore smiled. "I see no reason to take Harry off the Quidditch team, unless he is bested in tryout, which I think unlikely."

Umbridge looked outraged. "But Headmaster—"

Dumbledore raised a hand to silence her. "It has come to my attention that there are a number of student with magical creature blood attending Hogwarts, some of whom are also on their House Quidditch teams. I see no reason to allow none of them to play. In fact, I am going to allow every part-human to participate in Quidditch is he so desires."

"Are you serious, Headmaster?" Haemon asked. Harry clenched hiss fists to help suppress his reaction to Haemon's voice when it was so excited.

"I am very serious, Mr Haemon, though I'm not sure mr Malfoy would appreciate you taking over his position."

Haemon smiled. "I do not wish to be a Seeker. Thank you, Headmaster."

Snape nodded in agreement, a feral grin threatening to form on his face. Harry had no doubt Snape would force the other Slytherins into accepting Haemon and maybe Erebos onto the team.

"Headmaster, I _must_ protest," Umbridge said furiously. "What about the other students on the teams? The Ravenclaw team? It is not fair to them."

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "I assure you, Delores, there is a part-human already on the Ravenclaw team. I see no reason to force any student to resign. It may not be fair to the other students, but it is not fair to these students either."

Umbridge looked unconvinced and livid, but she seemed to sense that Dumbledore wasn't going to tolerate much more so she stayed quiet. However, she threw a furious glance at Haemon and Erebos. Harry wondered if she had something against part-humans more than the average wizard.

"Also, I believe it would be a good idea if you met with both Mr Haemon and Professor Roselyn at least once every couple weeks. They will be able to help you, both in your quest for a mate and in dealing with being a vampire, much the same way the Kafeles would if they were allow on school grounds."

Harry frowned at him; he'd thought the reason they couldn't be with him was that parents would protest it, not that they weren't allowed. "Why aren't they allowed?"

Umbridge got to it before Dumbledore could open his mouth. "Hamal Kafele and Minkah Astennu are two of the most notorious criminals in the wizarding world. They have been since before we were in the least bit organized as a society. The Ministry cannot permit such criminals to come near the children of this castle."

"Oh, you did a marvellous job of that during the summer," Harry retorted. He bristled at the woman calling his Sire a criminal. Sure, Hamal had probably killed a lot of people, but he was a _vampire_.

Umbridge stared at him a moment, as though trying to decided whether he had actually just said that. "I will _not_ be spoken to that way," she whispered. "Deten—"

"That will not be necessary, Delores," Dumbledore interrupted. "It is only the natural response when one's Sire has been insulted."

Umbridge didn't say anything, but it was clear that if Harry so much as breathed loudly in her presence, he would get a detention.

"We will meet again in the Hospital Wing on Friday so we can arrange a Feeding schedule with you and Mr Haemon," Dumbledore said as though nothing had happened.

"Yes, sir."

Dumbledore smiled and stood, prompting the rest of them to stand as well. Only Umbridge remained seated.

"Now, we all have classes tomorrow. Let's all get a good night's sleep. Severus, if you would stay a moment."

Snape nodded and stepped closer to the desk while the other teachers started filing out. Harry waited for the other students to leave before leaving himself, but it didn't do any good. Dumbledore was determined to wait for everyone to leave before he started talking with Snape.

"Don't worry, Harry, I'm sure you'll get a chance to tell him tomorrow," Hermione said when he caught up with them.

Harry stared at her for a moment before he realized what she was talking about. She thought he hadn't stayed behind to tell Dumbledore about the incident at dinner. He'd actually completely forgotten about it.

"Yeah, I'll tell him tomorrow," he agreed, though he wasn't about to do anything of the sort.

"Hey, think we're invited to come on Friday too?" Ron asked as they stepped onto the staircase.

"You want to come?"

Ron shrugged and flushed brightly. "Well, you know, I don't really like vampires. I can't help it; that's the way I grew up. But you're my best mate, so I have to support you."

Harry was shocked. He felt a little ashamed; he'd assumed Ron had only come with them tonight because he didn't want to be left out.

"Thanks, Ron," Harry said. It seemed inadequate, but he didn't know what else to say.

They reached the bottom of the stairs to find Haemon and Erebos waiting for them. Immediately, Ron scowled at them, and Harry knew that was where his goodwill toward vampires ran out. He doubted anything would get rid out Ron and Haemon's animosity toward each other.

"May I speak with you, Harry?" Haemon asked, ignoring Ron. "Your friends are more than welcome to stay and make sure I do not do anything to harm you."

Ron scowled and clenched his fists. "You'd better not do anything."

Erebos sneered at him. "I'd love to see what you'd do about it."

"Sure," Harry said, responding to Haemon's question before Ron could do anything. "What do you want to talk about?"

Haemon gave him a breathtaking smile. Harry's breath caught and he suddenly felt very nervous. He wondered whether Haemon had this effect on other people too.

"I am sure you know by know that both Kiran and I are Potentials," Haemon said, making Kiran scowl and look away.

"I'd guessed, yeah," Harry said, only feeling more nervous. Was he going to have to deal with more Slytherins than Malfoy? He wasn't sure Malfoy would have a chance against these two.

"However, I have found the person I want to spend my life with," Haemon continued. "We have not bonded yet, so we can both feel you and you, us, but I think we may in a few years."

Kiran nodded behind him, still scowling, though now it was at Ron.

Haemon pulled a dagger out of his robes and laid the blade against the palm of his hand. "I, Angelo Eros Haemon, Halfling vampire of the Tarxien tribe, do so renounce my claim on the bonding of Harry James Potter, newly-Turned _dyad_ of the Nephilim tribe. I recognize that in doing so, I shall never again have such a claim and accept it willingly. May my blood turn to fire in my veins should I try to clam him when it is not my right."

He pressed the dagger into his palm. Blood welled out of the cut. He tipped his hand so a few drops would fall, but they ignited and burnt up before they touched the ground. Haemon nodded and waved his other hand over the cut; it healed, leaving only a thin white scar behind.

Harry stared at him, only barely noticing that Haemon did not seem quite as attractive anymore and his opinion did not seem to matter nearly as much. He was shocked the other vampire would make a vow like that, one that he didn't doubt would be hard to keep. Clearly, Haemon loved his own mate, whom Harry was starting to suspect was Erebos, very much.

Not only that, but Haemon had used wandless magic outside Dumbledore's office only minutes after being reminded he wasn't allowed to use it.

Haemon noticed him glance at his hand and shrugged. "It is difficult for me to get used to a wand again after the summer. The Headmaster know this. I have a short period of leniency from him."

He tucked the dagger back inside his robes and smiled at Harry again. It still made his breath catch, but he had a feeling Heamon had that effort on everyone.

"I look forward to our meetings, Harry," Haemon said. "I hope that you will teach me as much as I will teach you."

"Um, yeah, me too. Thanks, Haemon."

"Please call me Angelo. Like Loretta, I wish there to be little distance between us."

Erebos sent a glare at Haemon's back, and Harry flushed a bit, but he knew that if Angelo meant it _that_ way, he would die. So Harry smiled and nodded. "Alright, Angelo."

Erebos stepped forward then and pulled a silver knife out of his own robes. Harry wasn't surprised when the blond pressed the dagger against his palm.

"I, Kiran Azriel Erebos, being full-blooded of the Race of Highest Light and Order, do so relinquish my claim on Harry James Potter, newly-Turned _dyad_ of the Nephilim. I understand that by doing so, I shall never again have such a claim and accept it willingly. May my blood turn to stone in my veins should I attempt to take back this vow."

He pressed the tip of his knife into his palm, but only enough to allow a single drop of blood out. This one did not transform as Angelo's had; the drop merely vanished before it hit the ground.

Harry wasn't sure what to say. He was grateful that he had two less people to worry about, but saying "thank you" seemed odd in this case.

"Now you say 'I accept these vows'," Erebos said, finally getting impatient with his silence.

"I-I accept these vows," Harry repeated hesitantly.

Erebos rolled his eyes and turned away. "Damn Vampire can't even teach customs right..."

Harry bristled at the insult, tensing further when Angelo said, "That is why Loretta is here, so she can teach him some of that."

"Hamal's a fine teacher!" Harry exclaimed, pulling out his wand. "I'd like to see you do better! We only had a month, after all!"

Erebos eyed him with distain for a moment. He waved his hand. Harry's wand leapt from his hand and he flew back against the wall, pinned there.

"Harry!"

Ron and Hermione moved to help him, but they met an invisible wall before they hardly took two steps. Harry glanced at Angelo; the vampire looked concerned but not at all close to helping.

Erebos stalked over to him, the silver knife gleaming in his hand. The blond stopped so close to him they were practically touching. The knife pressed against his throat, hard enough to sting but not draw blood.

"I will insult your Sire and his pathetic mate whenever I wish, Potter," Erebos hissed. "I would kill them both if I had the opportunity, and you as well. We have no reason to ever speak again, nor come near one another, nor even look at each other. I suggest you keep it that way if you want to live."

"Kiran..." Angelo murmured. Both of them looked at him. He didn't make a move to interfere, but he looked as though he would love to. Harry started getting a cold feeling in his gut; why didn't Angelo do something with he wanted to so badly? Did Erebos threaten him like this too? He wouldn't doubt it; the blond seemed to hate vampires.

"Please," Angelo said. "You know what it took for me to make that vow. Don't make me take it back."

The word only seemed to incense Erebos further, but the knife left Harry's throat and the spell pinning him to the wall fell away.

"So what happens when you get on the Quidditch team?" Harry asked as Erebos walked away.

"I won't be a Beater or a Seeker," Erebos said, "so we will have no reason to interact."

Erebos grabbed Angelo's wrist as he passed by and dragged the vampire along with him. Angelo made no move to break free or resist. Rather, he followed like a lost puppy, glancing back once as if to make sure Harry was okay.

Ron and Hermione rushed over to him; Erebos must have taken the shield down.

"Are you okay, Harry?" Ron asked, frantically checking his neck. Harry reached up to check it himself; the knife had scratched him, but it wasn't bleeding.

"I'm fine," Harry said. His eyes were fixed on the two Slytherins as they turned and disappeared around a corner.

"Don't worry about him. He doesn't have the guts to go through with any of his threats," Ron said, following Harry's line of sight. "Let's go to bed; I'm beat."

Harry nodded and they started walking back to Gryffindor Tower, but he didn't believe Ron's assurances. He had no doubt that Erebos could and would go through with his threats if given the opportunity. Harry just wished he could find out what Erebos had been threatening Angelo with; maybe he could get Angelo out of his grasp.


End file.
